PGA Tour Golf Odds & Picks: Arnold Palmer Invitational Final Bets, Betting Card, OAD

PGA Tour golf continues with Bay Hill Resort & Lodge next on tap to host the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando this Thursday. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy headline among Arnold Palmer Invitational bets this week, as John Haslbauer provides his favorite PGA Tour picks from the available golf odds. Below, you’ll find each player’s best odds across betting sites.

The stars return in Orlando this week as the PGA Tour looks to put the trend of unheralded winners in the rearview. The acclaimed Bay Hill Resort & Lodge will host the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational with a stronger field than we’ve seen in recent weeks.

Annually one of the most challenging tests on tour, Bay Hill is a picture-perfect layout to reward players who are sharpest in the most premium skill sets. This week, driving distance, par-5 scoring, proximity 200+, bogey avoidance, and SG: short game on firm and fast Bermuda greens are crucial. So, seeing such a long list of significant champions decorate the board of past winners is no surprise.

Let’s go through all the bets I’ve placed for the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational without further ado.

Click on any of the Arnold Palmer Invitational odds below for the best available prices across sportsbooks in your state. Navigate to my longshots post for more golf DFS picks and considerations.

HOW I BUILT MY ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL BETTING CARD

This may be the best example if there were ever a non-major week to take a stance on the top of the betting board. Bay Hill is in the top five on tour in predictive course history, and Scheffler and McIlroy are No. 1 and 2 regarding strokes gained in this event. That’s no coincidence, as this course is designed to reward the best overall players. 

I faded the longshots for my betting card and prioritized players with proven course history, elite driving distance, and proven success in comparable difficult scoring conditions.

With all of that in mind, it’s back to business as usual for my weekly stake at the Arnold Palmer Invitational:

• Outrights – 3.7U in to pay 25U each
• FRL – 0.5U in to pay out 10U+ each
• Full tournament matchups – 1U in to pay out 2U
• Props – 0.8U in to pay out 3U+ each

ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL BETS: OUTRIGHTS (3.5 UNITS)

For PGA Tour DFS picks and longshot bet considerations, check out my golf sleepers for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Rory McIlroy

My bet: +850
Best available odds: Rory McIlroy +150000 on DraftKings

There are probably only two or three weeks each year where I get behind a player at single-digit odds. In those select cases, every trend must be pointing in that player’s favor. That is the situation we have with McIlroy this week.

Crazy as it is to say, I think the Arnold Palmer Invitational might be the only event where he should be the favorite over Scottie Scheffler all year. Of course, Scheffler has won twice here in three years. However, Bay Hill’s design gives a distinct advantage to bombers like McIlroy, who can take aggressive lines and cut angles off the tee. He was the only player in the field able to drive the green on the 400-yard par-4 10th hole last year and will get home in two on each par 5 at Bay Hill.

You couldn’t ask for a better open from McIlroy in 2025, winning his first start at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. This week, the best driver in the field has every opportunity to pick up his second signature event win of the season as long as the putter cooperates.

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Patrick Cantlay

My bet: +3000
Best available odds: Patrick Cantlay +500000 on DraftKings

I was prepared to roll out a McIlroy single-bullet betting card but was happily surprised to see I could squeeze in my two favorite bets. After Scheffler and McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay emerges from the next tier as my favorite fit for this week’s course. And he just so happens to be priced the longest of them.

Course history is a key trend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Cantlay checks that box with a T4 finish here in his 2023 debut. He has the driving distance to withstand this beast of a course and has looked great to start the season with two top-five finishes over his last three starts.

ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL BETS: FIRST-ROUND LEADER (0.5 UNITS)

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Wyndham Clark

My bet: +4500
Best available odds: Wyndham Clark +270 on FanDuel

A volatile birdie-maker, Clark is in better form than his results to kick off 2025 would otherwise suggest. His game is made for Bay Hill, as he has the distance to separate from the pack here and thrives putting on fast Bermuda greens. He was a runner-up finisher here last year, and this is a very good number on a talented player we know can go low.

Will Zalatoris

My bet: +5000
Best available odds: Will Zalatoris +50000 on FanDuel

If it plays like a major venue, you must at least consider getting your exposure to Zalatoris. He’s already demonstrated his fit for these difficult conditions with two top-10 finishes at the API over four career starts. He’ll come to Bay Hill in solid form with three top-25 finishes over his first four starts of 2025.

Aaron Rai

My bet: +6000
Best available odds: Aaron Rai +50000 on FanDuel

Not your prototypical type of player to take on the beast that is Bay Hill, Rai has still managed to build up a good resume on long and windy courses so far in his career. The former Scottish Open champion came to Bay Hill fresh from a T4 showing at the Mexico Open in his previous start.

Harris English

My bet: +8000
Best available odds: Harris English +50000 on FanDuel

A player with some of the most consistent course history at Bay Hill and anyone in this field, his combination of driving distance and elite short game around fast Bermuda greens make English a great fit every year we return to Orlando. He’s already paid off the course history narrative once with his win at Torrey Pines earlier this year. He’ll look to get off to a hot start here again this week.

ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL BETS: PROPS (2.5 UNITS)

Full Tournament Matchup: Shane Lowry > Sungjae Im

My bet: -110
Best available odds: Shane Lowry -118 on BetMGM

Two players were trending in polar opposite directions, and I was a bit surprised to find these two players paired together in the matchup market. Lowry is in the midst of some of the best golf of his career, posting 10 top-15 finishes over his last 12 starts. He’ll return to Bay Hill after a career-best T3 finish in 2024 on a course that accentuates his strengths of scrambling under challenging conditions.

On the other hand, Sungjae Im has continued to fall into a tailspin from an approach standpoint. Bay Hill is far from a “get right” spot for players looking to find something with their swing. Im has finished MC-MC-T57 over his last three starts. I much prefer Lowry in this head-to-head.

Top-20 Finish: Harris English

My bet: +300
Best available odds: Harris English +30000 on FanDuel

Harris English is the most disrespectfully priced player on the board this week. So I’m happy to find my exposure across the FRL and placement markets. English has demonstrated a very high floor at this event with four consecutive top-25 finishes and has already gotten off to a hot start in 2025 after winning the Farmers Insurance Open in January.

ONE AND DONE

My pick: Rory McIlroy

There are many more opportunities to use McIlroy in One And Done, whether the Canadian Open, Wells Fargo Championship, PGA Championship (at Quail Hollow), or (dare I say) the Masters. Of course, playing the World No. 2 at an event he has won before and repeatedly plays well is not a contrarian stance. Particularly so when it features elevated purses for signature events. But, if I choose my spot to play one of the game’s biggest stars, I’m comfortable doing it now. 

If not McIlroy, I would also consider playing Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, or Hideki Matsuyama in OAD.

ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL: THE BETTING CARD

That’ll do it for this week’s PGA Tour golf bets. Best of luck this week with your Arnold Palmer Invitational bets, and see you next Sunday for The Players Championship preview. For more, follow TheLines on X.

ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL ODDS

Compare odds before making your PGA Tour golf bets this week using the table below. Use the pulldown menu to browse different markets. Click the odds to bet.

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