Power Rankings: 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational

BY 

WILL GRAY

MARCH 4, 2019 AT 1:12 PM

Golf Channel's game has a new look in 2019.

This year in addition to picking a tournament winner we’re also shifting the focus to head-to-head matchups, with both the Golf Pick ‘Em game and an additional Sunday-only contest that focuses on the final round. Both contests can be found in the NBC Sports Predictor app, which fantasy players can download to make their selections each week.

Players can compete for weekly cash prizes, with the best scores during the season qualifying for the season-ending FJ $100,000 Championship, where cash and prizes will be awarded to top finishers.

The contests continues this week with the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando. Here’s a look at some of the top players you should consider when making picks, as Rory McIlroy returns to Bay Hill to defend his title:

1. Rory McIlroy: The defending champ has done everything but win to kick off his 2019 campaign. McIlroy has been stellar out of the gates, finishing T-5 or better in each of his first four starts. That includes a runner-up result two weeks ago in Mexico, and now he returns to a course where he rallied to win a year ago thanks to a Sunday 64.

2. Brooks Koepka: Koepka showed last week that his game still travels when there isn't a major trophy up for grabs. The Florida resident felt right at home at PGA National, closing with a 66 to grab a share of second place on a course where he had otherwise historically struggled. His record isn't much better at Bay Hill, but his game has transformed since he missed the cut here two years ago in his most recent appearance. These days, he can flourish at nearly any venue.

3. Tiger Woods: In contrast with Koepka, Woods has some Bay Hill success to speak of. A lot of it, actually. Eight tournament wins from 2000-13 tied his own PGA Tour record, and he surprised many with a T-5 finish here last year that helped spark his resurgent season. Woods has finished T-20 or better in each of his first three starts this year, offering solid progress that should lead to an uptick this week on a familiar track.

4. Justin Rose: The Englishman has had a few weeks off since missing the cut in Saudi Arabia, and he returns to action having been passed by Dustin Johnson in the world rankings. But the form he flashed en route to a convincing victory at Torrey Pines in January is still within reach, and Rose's frequent Bay Hill appearances have yielded a runner-up and two third-place finishes since 2011.

5. Jason Day: The Aussie has been a staple on the Bay Hill leaderboards in recent years, with four straight top-25s highlighted by his 2016 victory. That includes a stretch of 10 straight sub-par rounds in Orlando, and Day's early-season form has been just as strong: a T-5 finish at another familiar haunt, Torrey Pines, followed by a T-4 finish at Pebble Beach in his most recent start.

6. Bryson DeChambeau: DeChambeau surprised many with his runner-up showing here a year ago, but four wins later and no one would be surprised about a repeat performance this week. A frustrated and error-filled week in Mexico can be viewed as an outlier considering DeChambeau's other five starts this year have all led to top-15 finishes, including his victory in Dubai.

7. Rickie Fowler: Fowler nearly rallied to another Honda title last week, with his birdie-birdie finish leaving him one shot short of a playoff. But it's another promising result for a player who won earlier this year in Phoenix and has been a consistent contender at Bay Hill dating back to his third-place showing in 2013. That includes top-15 finishes each of the last two years, and Fowler has shot par or better in 10 of his last 12 rounds in Orlando.

8. Francesco Molinari: Well before he gained notoriety as the Open champ, Molinari made a habit of contending at Bay Hill. The Italian has three top-10 finishes at this event since 2014, highlighted by a T-5 finish that year, and hasn't finished worse than T-26 in each of his last five appearances. Molinari has played sparingly in the new year, but a T-17 finish two weeks ago in Mexico shows that there's little if any rust remaining from his offseason break.

9. Kiradech Aphibarnrat: Don't be afraid to take a chance on the burly Thai, who has thrived at Bay Hill in recent years and comes to Orlando on the heels of a T-3 finish in Mexico. Aphibarnrat missed the cut last week at PGA National but seems likely to make the weekend this time around, having finished T-6 here in both 2015 and 2016 including a final-round 65 three years ago.

10. Marc Leishman: Leishman rallied to win this event two years ago, and he tied for seventh last year in defense of that title. The Aussie has three straight top-20 finishes at this event to go along with a third-place result back in 2011, and Leishman already has three top-5 finishes to his credit this year after notching a win in Malaysia during the fall portion of the season.