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US PGA Tour golf tips: Will Zalatoris primed to gatecrash top guns' Arnold Palmer Invitational party

Will Zalatoris at the US PGA

The usual top-ranking suspects will be out in force at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but Tipstrr golf pundit Brendan Skilling believes that Will Zalatoris can lead a challenge from the chasing pack.

After Chris Kirk's triumph in last week's Honda Classic, the USPGA Tour continues its 'Florida Swing' with a short hop over to the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando for The Arnold Palmer Invitational.
A mainstay on the tour since 1979, this event always attracts a top-class field due to its connection with the owner and co-designer, the late, great Arnold Palmer, and the tournament will be enhanced even more this year after being designated as one of the tour's elevated events.
The course itself is typical Florida golf. Bermuda playing surfaces, plenty of bright white sand and deep blue water which comes into play on nine holes here, although it does feature slightly more elevation changes than other courses in the area.

The rough length is approaching three inches, the toughest the players will have encountered so far this year, while the surfaces surrounding the hazards have been cut much shorter to give balls more chance of finding trouble. 

This means that accuracy is likely to be more important than distance off the tee, even though the list of previous winners includes big hitters such as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Bryson Dechambeau.
The medium-sized greens should not pose too much of a problem, although they will become increasingly firm as the week goes on, suggesting scrambling skills will be key, and the ability to get up and down when out of position around here cannot be underestimated.
Overall, this should be a tough examination for the world's best. Bay Hill constantly ranks among the toughest tour stops, a fact reflected by the knowledge that the average winning score in the last 4 years is eight under par. This means that the ability to take advantage of the four par-5s is incredibly important.
Once again, the betting is spearheaded by the world's top 3 players, all of whom have a compelling claim: Jon Rahm is in the form of his or indeed anyone's life, Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion, while the course history of previous winner Rory McIlroy always merits serious consideration.
Of the three, my slight preference would be for the Northern Irishman, but I'm happy to look further down the market as there's one player who you should always keep in your thoughts on these tougher tests.

Will Zalatoris a proven operator when the tour visits demanding layouts such as Torrey Pines and the major championships, and the American ticks all the boxes with regards to the skill set required round here.

He arrives in Florida off the back of a fourth-placed finish at The Genesis Invitational, where he finished strongly with the best round in the field on the Sunday, hopefully proving that he is now clear of his previous injury worries.

At bigger prices still are equally capable candidates in the shape of Tyrell Hatton and Jason Day.

Anyone looking for greater each-way vlaue on a track where course history certainly counts, then consistent Englishman Tyrell Hatton arrives after an impressive seventh place at the Phoenix Open to a venue where he has notched both a victory and runner-up spot in the last three years.

Meanwhile, popular Australian Jason Day is also a previous winner here in 2016, back when he was the world number one and a major champion, but since then his career stalled massively due to injury. 

However, recent form has been extremely positive as he climbs back up to the summit of the game with figures of 10-18-7-5-9 in his last six outings and a long-overdue win can't be too far away for him now.

Finally, anyone looking for a lively three-figure outsider could do worse than Sepp Straka, who is more than capable of emerging from the many dark horses lurking in the lower half of the betting market. 

The big Austrian won the Honda Classic last year and was fifth in that same tournament last week in his title defence on a course that, although not as tough as Bay Hill, shares many similarities.

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