2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational: Last-minute call for the best bets

The 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational begins Thursday, March 7, featuring one of the most competitive fields of the PGA Tour season. Nine members of the top 10 on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) will be in attendance, as well as 29 of the top 30 on the 2024 FedEx Cup list.

However, not all of them have performed well in the recent past. Several top players have had inconsistent performances heading into 2024, and that affects the odds experts give them to win the title.

Let’s take a look at the players most likely to win the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational: Scottie Scheffler and His New Putter

It’s no news that Scottie Scheffler leads the pundits’ analysis of his chances to excel in any field he enters. It is virtually unanimous that Scheffler is the best player in the world today, and the gap between him and his closest competitors is not small.

Scheffler was spotted at Bay Hill debuting a new TaylorMade Spider Putter (remember, Rory McIlroy publicly suggested he try a mallet putter). If this new equipment works for Scheffler, betting on him is almost a sure thing.

BetMGM has Scheffler at +650.

Rory McIlroy, warming up for the Masters

The Northern Irishman has the publicly stated goal of winning a major in the 2024 season, and even said recently that winning a green jacket could lead to him calling it a career. However, Rory McIlroy hasn’t played at the level expected of him at the start of his PGA Tour season (he’s yet to post his first top 20), although he has a win and a runner-up finish on the DP World Tour.

McIlroy needs to find his best form heading into the Augusta National event, and he has time to do so, but the Arnold Palmer Invitational is a good scenario to start hitting his stride.

BetMGM has McIlroy at +1000.

Cantlay, Hovland, Schauffele

The trio of Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele is one of the most consistent group to come out of the PGA Tour in recent memory. There is one key detail that sets them apart though : while Cantlay and Schauffele have not won since 2022, Hovland is coming off the best season of his career in 2023, with three wins and the FedEx Cup title.

What has been seen in 2024, however, has been inconsistent. Cantlay has three top-12 finishes in five events, including a T4 at the Genesis Invitational. Schauffele, meanwhile, has four top-10s in five events, with a T3 at The American Express as his best finish. Schauffele extended his streak of consecutive cuts to 40.

Hovland has been less fortunate. His best finish is a T19 at The Genesis Invitational and he has played in just 3 events. In addition, he is said to be unhappy with his game and even pulled out of the Phoenix Open to work on his swing.

BetMGM has Cantlay, Hovland and Schauffele at +1400.

Other interesting players at the Arnold Palmer Invitational

Despite what the specialized websites say, there are other players who are on the verge of a big result, such as winning a signature event like the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In this case, there is Ludvig Aberg (+2000), who has not had a bad moment since he started his professional career in June 2023. Another case is Jason Day (+3300), with three top 10s in his last five tournaments, including a 9th place finish at the Genesis Invitational.