Week 12 Power Rankings: Arnold Palmer Invitational

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Officially, Mike Vitti is the Director of Research and Development in the TOUR's Marketing Department. Unofficially, he's a stats guru who analyzes all kinds of data from our ShotLink numbers.

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Vitti will size up the field each week and provide his top 10 players going into the tournament, based on factors such as the player's strengths, the course setup, recent performances, etc.

Tiger Woods has dominated the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard since 2000, winning five of the last nine events. The event is played at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, which was changed to a par 70 for this event starting in 2007, the year it was won by Vijay Singh.

Bay Hill starts hard and ends harder. The first hole and Nos. 16-18 are four of the five toughest on the course. It presents a real challenge in the early rounds, where players teeing off on the 10th hole have to play all four in a row.

With the shortest par 3 measuring 197 yards on the card and the two par 5s converted to par 4s, the long hitters and players that hit the long irons well will have a definite advantage on this course. So who might that be?

Power Rankings: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard

Rank Player   Comment Tiger WOODS Averaging over 300 yards off the tee, finishing first in total driving, and ranking seventh in proximity to the hole, he was on from tee to green in his last start. His only issue was that he ranked 66th in birdie conversion percentage. If his putter gets hot, he will win. Kenny PERRY Perry posted another top-20 finish last week, his sixth in eight starts this season. Perry won this event in 2005 and has four top-25 finishes in 13 starts at Bay Hill. He enters this week ranked in the top-25 on the PGA TOUR in both ball striking and scrambling. Nick WATNEY Last week Watney posted his sixth top-25 finish in seven starts this season. He finished tied for 21st last year at this event and enters this week ranked in the top 10 in driving distance, scoring average and birdie or better conversion percentage. Stephen AMES Ames has four top-10s in nine starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and has yet to miss the cut. He has finished in the top-20 in three of his six starts this season, ranks 25th in total putting and is 19th on the PGA TOUR in proximity to the hole from over 200 yards. Retief GOOSEN He played last week without a three putt and finished fourth in putting inside of 10 feet on his way to his first win since '05. It was his second top-3 of '09 and he has yet to miss a cut in six starts. With four top-25s in nine starts, he has a solid Bay Hill record. Sean O'HAIR Defending his victory at last week's Transitions Championship, he had his first missed cut and first finish outside the top-25 of the season. Look for O'Hair to get back on track this week at Bay Hill, where he has finished in the top 15 each of the last two seasons. Vijay SINGH Singh had to withdraw from last week's event due to his knee, but should be ready to tee it up at Bay Hill. He has played in this event in each of the last 16 seasons, where he's recorded seven top-10s and has yet to miss the cut. Tom LEHMAN He tied for eighth last week and has a good record at Bay Hill with five top 10s, including ones in '07 and '08. Lehman enters this week ranked 19th in driving accuracy. He is also keeping his misses close, ranking sixth in distance from the edge of the fairway. Chad CAMPBELL The winner at Bay Hill in 2004, Campbell has never missed the cut at this event and has finished in the top 25 in each of the last five years. Rocco MEDIATE Although he has yet to finish in the top 25, Mediate has made the cut in each of his first five starts this season. He has 20 career starts at Bay Hill and has finished in the top-10 four times, including a solo second in 2007.