Week 13 Approach Shots: Arnold Palmer Invitational

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TIGER AT BAY HILL: Tiger Woods returns to the Bay Hill Club and Lodge this week to defend his Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard title in his third start of the season after missing eight months of action in both 2008 and 2009 because of knee surgery. It will be Tiger's first start of '09 in a full-field PGA TOUR event after making his two previous starts in limited-field World Golf Championships events.

Quick Facts

WHAT: 14th of 37 regular-season PGA TOUR events WHEN: March 26-29 WHERE: Orlando, Fla. COURSE: Bay Hill Resort and Club TV: 3 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET, Thurs.-Fri. on GOLF CHANNEL; 2:30 p.m. Sat.-Sun. on NBC RADIO: 12 p.m.-8 p.m. ET Thurs.-Sun., PGA TOUR Network (XM 146/SIRIUS 209) WHAT'S AT STAKE: $6,000,000 purse ($1,080,000 for winner) FEDEXCUP POINTS: 500 for winner KEY LINKS: Tee times | Leaderboard SHOT TRACKER | Tournament page VIDEO: Opening Shot

A year ago, Woods rolled in 24-foot birdie putt on 72nd hole to top Bart Bryant by one stroke for his fifth Arnold Palmer Invitational title. Woods is the only player to have won this event more than twice. The only other players with multiple victories at Bay Hill are Tom Kite (1982 and 1989) and Loren Roberts (1994-95).

PLAYER NOTES: Less than one year from his historic head-to-head battle with Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open, Western Pennsylvania native Rocco Mediate looks to claim his first TOUR title since 2002. Mediate, who grew up idolizing tournament host Arnold Palmer, will be making his 21st appearance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. This will be the first time Mediate and Woods have been in the same field since last year's U.S. Open. ...

Three-time major championship winner, Padraig Harrington will return to Bay Hill for the first time since missing the cut in 2000. After a slow start to his 2009 season on TOUR (two missed cuts and a first-round loss at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship), he is looking to gain momentum. As the reigning champion at the last two majors, Harrington has the opportunity to be the first player since Woods (2000-01) to win three consecutive major titles. ...

Davis Love III will play in his 20th Arnold Palmer Invitational, with the opportunity to remain in the top 50 and earn an exemption into the Masters (based on Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday, March 29). He is currently ranked 47th. Prior to missing last year's Masters, Love had played in 70 consecutive major championships. Love has missed just two cuts at Bay Hill (1988 and 2007) and has finished second three times and third once. Love's most-recent TOUR victory -- his 20th -- came across town last November at the 2008 Children's Miracle Network Classic at Walt Disney World Resort. ...

Seventeen-year-old Japanese player Ryo Ishikawa will play his third TOUR event. Ishikawa is currently the world's second-highest ranked Japanese golfer (No. 69). By the close of 2008, he had become the youngest-ever golfer to break into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Ishikawa made his first PGA TOUR cut last week, at the Transitions Championship. ...

Erik Compton will play in his fourth TOUR event since having his second heart transplant in May 2008. His first heart transplant came when he was 12. Last November, Compton tied for 60th at the Children's Miracle Network Classic and tied for 44th at this year's Honda Classic. ...

Retief Goosen ended a four-year TOUR victory drought and moved from 37th in the FedExCup standings to fifth thanks to a win at last week's Transitions Championship. Goosen has missed this event only once in the past 10 years (2003) and his best finish is fourth place in 2005.

ON-COURSE OBSERVATIONS: PGA TOUR Network correspondent Michael Collins is on the scene at Bay Hill for this week's satellite radio coverage (XM 146/SIRIUS 209). Reports Collins:

Like Arnie said in his press conference on Wednesday, you're going to see some lush conditions this week. The golf course is in terrific shape. The drought that had affected the Tampa area is not nearly as bad in Orlando.

Even though the conditions are great, don't expect it to translate into a lot of birdies. For the second consecutive week, golfers are going to get beat up. Mistakes off the tee and mistakes with the approach shots are severely punished unless Lady Luck is in your back pocket.

The finish is one of the toughest of the year. The course ends with a 485-yard par-4, a 219-yard par-3, and the famous 441-yard par-4 18th. The 16th used to be a par 5, and we would see eagles coming down the stretch like crazy. Now, it's one of the harder holes. Par is your partner on the closing holes. Any pro in this field will take three pars to finish the round.

Don't expect to see a miracle at 18 like last year with Tiger making birdie. Those of us who were lucky to witness that realize that lightning doesn't strike twice.

I predict 12 under will make a playoff, and 14 under will win outright. I won't say 13 under, because that is just unlucky.

Weather forecast for the Arnold Palmer Invitational

THURSDAY, Rd. 1 FRIDAY, Rd. 2 SATURDAY, Rd. 3 SUNDAY, Rd. 4 Partly cloudy Temp: 84 high/59 low Mostly cloudy Temp: 87 high/63 low Possible showers Temp: 88 high/68 low Possible showers Temp: 80 high/65 low

DTN/Meteorlogix is the official weather provider of the PGA TOUR. For more information, click here

Arnold Palmer Invitational snippets

Dramatic endings: Over the years, the Arnold Palmer Invitational has produced some of the most dramatic finishes on the PGA TOUR, including Tiger's 24-foot birdie putt last year; Greg Owen's three-putt from 3 feet three years; and Vijay's double-bogey in 2005. Speaking of Vijay: Since 1993, the year he played in his first Arnold Palmer Invitational, Singh has made the cut 16 consecutive times, with three runner-up finishes and a victory. Spotting talent: The Arnold Palmer Invitational has a tradition of spotting young talent and being among the first to invite them to PGA TOUR events, such as Jose Maria Olazabal, Ernie Els and Singh. This year, Ryo Ishikawa and Jeev M. Singh are playing on exemptions. Wardrobe addition: The Arnold Palmer Invitational awards a jacket -- navy blue -- to its champion. The jacket was first given in 1979 with the debut of the tournament at Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Originally a heavy gray jacket, it was changed to blue in 1991.

In the spotlight

This week: Rocco Mediate

Each week during the 2009 season, PGATOUR.COM will spotlight one key player in the field. This week, it's Rocco Mediate, who grew up idolizing tournament namesake Arnold Palmer (both are from Western Pennsylvania) and who pushed Tiger Woods in a playoff last year at the U.S. Open. Learn more about Rocco

A victory this week earns you ...

• Fully Exempt status for the remainder of 2009 and all of 2010 and 2011 • If a TOUR member, 500 FedExCup points. Even if you had not earned a point so far this year, 500 would likely move you into the Top 20 and create additional opportunities to play in the 2009 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and for the World Golf Championship-CA Championship in 2010 • A win by either Nick Watney, Kenny Perry, Retief Goosen or Zach Johnson could move them into first place in the current FedExCup standings as all are within 500 points of leader Geoff Ogilvy, who is not competing • A spot in the following events in order of play: 2009 Masters, 2009 Verizon Heritage, 2009 THE PLAYERS Championship, 2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, 2009 Memorial, 2009 AT&T National, 2009 World Golf Championship-Bridgestone Invitational, 2009 PGA Championship • A spot in the 2010 Mercedes-Benz Championship • If a U.S. player, 2,160,000 points towards making the 2009 Presidents Cup team. If you are currently 28th or higher, that could move you into the Top 10. • If it is a second victory for a player since last June 4, a spot in the U.S. Open

KODAK CHALLENGE: The first-of-its-kind competition for PGA TOUR players continues at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The Kodak Challenge celebrates beautiful holes and memorable moments on the PGA TOUR. The Kodak Challenge offers $1 million to the winner. There will be one designated Kodak Challenge Hole at 24 different PGA TOUR tournaments in 2009, with this week's featured hole the 411-yard par-4 18th.

Players, who must play at least 18 of the holes during the season to be eligible, will count their lowest score relative to par on the Kodak Challenge Hole made during an official competition round. The player, with the lowest cumulative score in relation to par at the end of the challenge, wins.

For more on the Kodak Challenge, click here.