There’s been some controversy over some of the big names supposedly “disrespecting” The King by not showing up at Bay Hill for the first Arnold Palmer Invitational since his death.
As of last Friday, only 10 of the world top-25 had accepted the invite to play in Arnold’s (now memorial) event. In comparison, 49 of top-50 players trekked down to Mexico last week for an event sponsored Grupo Salinas.
Only 10 of the world's top 25 golfers are currently committed to next week's @APinv (49 of the top 50 played @WGCMexico last week) #TheKing https://t.co/2HZZzTmvBu
— Cara Banks (@CaraBanksGC) March 7, 2017
Some of the no-show names include Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, and Justin Thomas.
Billy Horschel, the former FedEx Cup champ, went on Twitter, as a follow up to Cara Robinson’s tweet, to plead with his fellow Tour pros.
Disappointing. Totally understand schedule issues. But 1st year without AP. Honor an icon! Without him wouldn't be in position we are today https://t.co/yzaIqbbSpM
— Billy Horschel (@BillyHo_Golf) March 7, 2017
Ian Poulter, however, defended the no-shows, blaming scheduling and the Bay Hill course itself.
“It’s going to be a fantastic week,” Poulter told ESPN. “It’s going to be a celebration of Arnie. The field is fine. There are some people who do not like that course and they are absolutely not disrespecting Arnie.
“We all obviously want every player from No 1 in the world in the rankings to 100 … we’d love for them all to be there. It’s impossible. I don’t think we have to discuss who isn’t there – it’s unfair to the tournament. Let’s focus on the family and make it a great week for them.”
Despite the flare up, the field does include five of the top-10 in the world, including defending champ Jason Day and Rory McIlroy. Other big names include Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson, and Justin Rose.
Full field list for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, as of March 10.
HOW THEY QUALIFIED
Former Winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational
Jason Day
Ernie Els
Matt Every
Robert Gamez
Tim Herron
Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship (Last 5 years)
Rickie Fowler
Martin Kaymer
Winner – The U.S. Open (Last 5 Years)
Justin Rose
Webb Simpson
Winner – The PGA Championship (Last 5 Years)
Rory McIlroy
Winner – The Masters (Last 5 Years)
Bubba Watson
Danny Willett
Winner – The Open Championship (Last 5 Years)
Zach Johnson
Henrik Stenson
Winner – The TOUR Championship
Billy Horschel
Winner – HSBC Champions – Last 3 Seasons
Hideki Matsuyama
Winner the Memorial (Last 3 Years)
David Lingmerth
William McGirt
Winner – Tournament Winner in the Past Year
Aaron Baddeley
Greg Chalmers
Tony Finau
Branden Grace
Cody Gribble
James Hahn
Jim Herman
Charley Hoffman
Mackenzie Hughes
Billy Hurley III
Si Woo Kim
Ryan Moore
Rod Pampling
Pat Perez
Brian Stuard
Hudson Swafford
Member of Last Named U.S. Ryder Cup Team
Brooks Koepka
Brandt Snedeker
Member of Last Named U.S.Presidents Cup Team
Chris Kirk
Member of Last Named International Presidents Cup Team
Steven Bowditch
Anirban Lahiri
Danny Lee
Marc Leishman
Louis Oosthuizen
Charl Schwartzel
Winner – Prior Year U.S. Amateur Championship
Curtis Luck
Top 50 – World Golf Ranking
Alex Noren
Paul Casey
Tyrrell Hatton
Thomas Pieters
Matthew Fitzpatrick
Emiliano Grillo
Francesco Molinari
Tommy Fleetwood
Kevin Chappell
Jeunghun Wang
Kevin Kisner
Kevin Na
Byeong Hun An
Life Member
Vijay Singh
Sponsors Exemptions – Web.com Tour Finals
Brandon Hagy
Grayson Murray
Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt
John Daly
Retief Goosen
Trevor Immelman
Troy Merritt
Ian Poulter
Sam Saunders
Harold Varner III
Boo Weekley
Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted
Chad Campbell
Thorbjorn Olesen
Rob Oppenheim
Greg Owen
Ryan Ruffels
Matthias Schwab
Robby Shelton
Steve Wheatcroft
Top 70 on Prior Year’s FedExCup Points List
Roberto Castro
Sean O’Hair
Jason Kokrak
Fabian Gomez
Smylie Kaufman
Harris English
Graeme McDowell
Jamie Lovemark
Charles Howell III
Brian Harman
David Hearn
Kevin Streelman
Kyle Reifers
Vaughn Taylor
Daniel Summerhays
Jon Curran
Ben Martin
Top 70 on Current Year FedExCup Points
Adam Hadwin
Keegan Bradley
Martin Laird
Luke List
Kelly Kraft
Cheng Tsung Pan
Lucas Glover
Chez Reavie
Patton Kizzire
Ollie Schniederjans
Scott Brown
Michael Kim
Stewart Cink
Morgan Hoffmann
J.J. Spaun
Derek Fathauer
Camilo Villegas
Kyle Stanley
Graham DeLaet
Wesley Bryan
Patrick Rodgers
Russell Henley
Seung-Yul Noh
PGA Section Champ/Player of the Year
David Hronek
Below 70th position from Current FedExCup Points List
Cameron Smith
Bud Cauley
John Huh
Credit/Source: PGA Tour Media
