For the third time in his 138th start on PGA TOUR, World No. 1 Jon Rahm began with three consecutive birdies at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (2016 RBC Canadian Open/67/finished T2, 2019 U.S. Open/69/finished T3).
Closed his round eagle-birdie-birdie to take the 18-hole lead/co-lead for the 11th time on the PGA TOUR (3-for-10 to date; winning the 2018 American Express, the 2022 Mexico Open at Vidanta and the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions).
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A three-time winner this season (Sentry Tournament of Champions, The American Express, The Genesis Invitational), Rahm has posted six top-10s in six starts in 2022-23 season; the last player to win four times in a calendar year before April 1 was Johnny Miller in 1974
Recorded scores of 64 or 65 in the opening rounds in each of his four most recent wins on TOUR.
With his victory at The Genesis Invitational in his most recent start, Rahm has the chance this week to join three players (Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Hale Irwin) who have won all three elevated events on the PGA TOUR, each offering 550 FedExCup points and a three-year exemption to the champion (The Genesis Invitational, the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard).
With rounds of 72-70-74-74, finished T17 in 2022 in his only prior appearance at this event.
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Last week’s winner at The Honda Classic, Chris Kirk (T2/-5) posted seven birdies between bogeys at his first (No. 10) and final (No. 9) holes; is making his 11th appearance at this event, seeks third consecutive top-10 finish at Bay Hill (T8/2021, T5/2022).
Last season’s PGA TOUR Arnold Palmer Award recipient (PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year) Cameron Young (T2/-5) made his second appearance at this event with rounds of 70-71-76-72 en route to T13 in 2022.
Kurt Kitayama (T2/-5) seeks his first title in his 50th PGA TOUR start, but first appearance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational; owns three runner-up finishes on TOUR, all coming in 2022 (T2/Mexico Open at Vidanta, 2nd/Genesis Scottish Open, 2nd/THE CJ CUP in South Carolina); is a two-time winner on DP World Tour (2018 Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open at Anahita, 2019 Oman Open).
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In his third appearance at Bay Hill, Adam Schenk (T5/-4) shot his first sub-70 score (T29/2019, T42/2022).
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler (T5/-4) is the fourth winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in the past 16 years to record an opening round of 68 or better the year following victory (Vijay Singh/66/2008, Tiger Woods/68/2009, Matt Every/68/2015, Scottie Scheffler/68/2023).
Jordan Spieth (T5/-4) finished T4 in 2021, his only previous appearance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Each with 4-under 68, Xander Schauffele notched his first sub-70 score in his fifth round at Bay Hill, Rickie Fowler posted his first sub-70 score at Bay Hill since 2018 (67/R1), a span of 20 rounds, and Patrick Cantlay fired a round in the 60s in his tournament debut.
Keegan Bradley (T5/-4) posted his second-best opening round this season (66/ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP/Won).
Viktor Hovland (T35/-1) started his round with an eagle-2 at No. 10, holing out from 97 yards to record the only eagle at a par-4 hole in the opening round; the last time an eagle was scored on a par-4 hole during this event was the first round in 2022 (Sam Ryder/No. 13/afternoon, K.H. Lee/No. 18/morning).
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Rory McIlroy (T68/+1) matched his highest opening round this season (73/WM Phoenix Open/T32); also posted a high opening round of 73 twice last season (73/PLAYERS Championship/T33, 73/Masters Tournament/2nd).
