The Arnold Palmer Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour . It is played each March at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge , a private golf resort owned since 1974 by Arnold Palmer in Bay Hill , a suburb southwest of Orlando , Florida .
5-625: The event was founded in 1979 as a successor to the Florida Citrus Open Invitational , which debuted in 1966 and was played at Rio Pinar Country Club , east of Orlando, through 1978 . Arnold Palmer won the Florida Citrus Open in 1971. Since 1979, the tournament title has had several different names, most of them including "Bay Hill," but has played under the Palmer name since 2007 . On March 21, 2012,
10-712: A red cardigan sweater in memory of Arnold Palmer, a tradition that began with the 2017 tournament after Palmer's death in 2016. In 2019, the event was added to the Open Qualifying Series, giving up to three non-exempt players entry into The Open Championship . The Arnold Palmer Invitational is one of only five tournaments given "invitational" status by the PGA Tour . Consequently, it has a reduced field of only 69 players in 2024 (as compared to most full-field open tournaments with fields of 144 or 156 players). The other four tournaments with invitational status are
15-901: The Genesis Invitational , RBC Heritage , the Fort Worth Invitational , and the Memorial Tournament . Invitational tournaments have smaller fields (between 69 and 132 players) and have more freedom than full-field open tournaments in determining which players are eligible to participate in their event, as invitational tournaments are not required to fill their fields using the PGA Tour Priority Ranking System. Furthermore, unlike full-field open tournaments, invitational tournaments do not offer open qualifying (aka Monday qualifying). The field consists of 120 players invited using
20-628: The Arnold Palmer Invitational and MasterCard Worldwide announced an extension to MasterCard 's "Presented by" sponsorship until the 2016 tournament. In June 2014, the PGA Tour approved a resolution to grant the winner a three-year exemption, one more than regular Tour events and on par with winners of the World Golf Championships , The Tour Championship , and the Memorial Tournament . The winner receives
25-467: The following criteria: Arnold Palmer had a lifetime invitation. Source: Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records. Sources: Eight men have won this tournament more than once through 2024. 1979 PGA Tour The 1979 PGA Tour was the 64th season of the PGA Tour , the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the 11th season since separating from
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