Arnold Palmer Invitational: Who to watch during Rounds 1-2 at Bay Hill, TV times, tee times and more
Mic’d up with Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Russell Henley
Written by Staff
All of the TOUR’s biggest names are back in action at this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, the third Signature Event of the season.
Russell Henley returns to defend his title at Bay Hill Club & Lodge after dramatically capturing the event last year after chipping in for eagle on the 16th hole. He'll have plenty of competition at Arnie's place, with Scottie Scheffler – winner twice in the last four years – and 2018 champion and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy, both teeing it up. Justin Thomas will be making his TOUR debut this season after undergoing microdiscectomy surgery in November 2025.
Specific tee time information will be released Tuesday. In the meantime, below is an early look at some of the notable groupings for this week’s event, which will be featured in PGA TOUR LIVE and Golf Channel coverage across the first two days at Bay Hill.
Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas
Matsuyama had a hot start to the season with four top-15 finishes, which include a playoff appearance at the Sony Open in Hawaii thanks to the strength of his approach game. Whether he can fix the struggles with his driver remains to be seen. Thomas, a 16-time TOUR winner, helped Atlanta Drive clinch a victory at TGL last week in his return to competition. "Obviously would love to play well next week, but I’m also understanding that it’ll be almost five, six months since I played a competitive tournament," Thomas said after the match. "So I’m not exactly expecting anything great, but at least everybody else will be struggling with me at Bay Hill. So that’ll make me feel a little bit better.” Thomas' best finish at Bay Hill has been a T4 in 2024.
Xander Schauffele, Shane Lowry
Despite a disappointing season debut where Schauffele missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open by one stroke ending his streak of 72 straight cuts, the 10-time PGA TOUR winner has picked up momentum and is coming off a T7 in his most recent start, The Genesis Invitational. As for Lowry, the Irishman is hoping to bounce back from a devastating T2 finish at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. Lowry had a three-shot lead entering PGA National's Bear Trap, but carded back-to-back double bogeys to lose to Nico Echavarria. “I have a tee time next Thursday in Bay Hill,” Lowry said, “and I have no choice but to move on.”
Scottie Scheffler, Russell Henley
World No. 1 Scheffler, who finished T11 at Bay Hill last year, will be paired with U.S. Ryder Cup teammate Henley at a place where both have experienced success. After opening his season with a win at The American Express, Scheffler has experienced a case of the Thursday blues – failing to break par in the first round – and lost his streak of top-10 finishes at The Genesis. The worst he could do? T12. Last year's champion Henley is coming off a missed cut at The Genesis after a rocky opening 76 and will look to turn things around by emulating his 2025 performance in Orlando.
Behind the scenes with Scottie Scheffler after Arnold Palmer Invitational win
Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland
Since McIlroy's win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2018, he's only finished outside of the top 15 at this event once, and he's entering off the strength of a T2 finish at The Genesis, where he lost to Jacob Bridgeman by one shot. Hovland's best finish at Bay Hill is a T2 in 2022, and he missed the cut last year. The Norwegian's last win was at the 2025 Valspar Championship and is hoping to repeat his success in the Florida swing.
How to watch (all times ET)
Special programming alerts:
- Monday: "The Drop," 7 p.m., Golf Channel
- Wednesday: "On the Range," 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Golf Channel
- TGL regular season finale:
- Monday, 7 p.m.: TGL Match 14, Los Angeles vs. New York, ESPN2, ESPN App
- Tuesday, 9 p.m.: TGL Match 15, The Bay vs. Jupiter Links, ESPN, ESPN App
- PGA TOUR LIVE Betcast presented by DraftKings: Get your betting coverage and analysis for the Arnold Palmer Invitational on ESPN+ throughout the week for an all-day, watch-and-bet experience for golf fans.
- Friday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Saturday-Sunday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Television:
- Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m., Golf Channel
- Saturday-Sunday: 12:30-2:30 p.m., Golf Channel; 2:30-6 p.m., NBC, Peacock
PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+:
- Thursday-Friday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Saturday-Sunday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+ and consists of four streams:
- Main feed (Stream 1): Primary tournament coverage featuring the best action from across the course
- Marquee group (Stream 2): New "Marquee group" showcasing every shot from each player in the group
- Featured groups (Stream 3): Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
- Betcast presented by DraftKings (Stream 4): Betting coverage and analysis throughout the week
- Thursday-Friday: noon-6 p.m.
- Saturday-Sunday: 1-6 p.m.
