Bay Hill is one of the toughest courses that PGA Tour players will face this season. Bay Hill features the third-highest correlation of course history on the PGA Tour behind Riviera and Augusta National.

One of the reasons is that you need to be an elite driver off-the-tee and long iron player at this course. Both combination of skillsets are hard to come by. Here are the top 10 players in the field who average the most strokes gained per round at Bay Hill (minimum 8 rounds):

It’s been a tough 2025 for Viktor Hovland, on top of what was already a disappointing 2024. Yet back when Viktor Hovland was Viktor Hovland, Bay Hill represented the perfect golf course for his skill-set. I believe I have bet Hovland every year at Bay Hill for three years straight, and I can almost certainly guarantee I will be receiving a discount on my yearly investment. Bay Hill and Muirfield Village are the best overall tests of driving on the PGA Tour when combining distance and accuracy, and when Hovland is at his best, his combination of power and precision is second to none. The best version of Hovland is an elite long iron player as well, and he still ranks second in this field in long iron proximity over the last 12 months.

While you will never catch me riding for Hovland’s short game, it is not a coincidence that many of his best performances have come on golf courses with thick rough, whether it be Bay Hill, Oak Hill, Muirfield Village, Torrey Pines, or Olympia Fields. The around the green shots at Bay Hill are not actually hard. What makes short game matter at Bay Hill is sheer volume (low greens in regulation percentage), and degree of difficulty. I’m not sure whether Hovland is simply more comfortable with the hack out motion and technique of chipping on these golf courses with thick greenside rough, but the results speak for themselves.

While it’s been rough start to the season for Hovland, there have been some encouraging signs of life. Even in a missed cut, Hovland gained strokes in both ball-striking categories and Torrey Pines, and with two weeks more of practice and fine tuning under his belt, I’m expecting his best performance of the season at Bay Hill.

One of the arguments against picking Scottie Scheffler at the Arnold Palmer Invitational is that you want to save him for the Players, which has the biggest purse of the year. Let’s not forget that the API is also a signature event with a massive payday to the winner.

Like the Players, Scheffler is looking to defend his title at Bay Hill and win his 3rd API red jacket in four years. He fits Bay Hill very well as he is the best long iron player in the world, an elite total driver of the golf ball, and has one of the best short games in his arsenal. The harder the golf course, the easier it is for Scheffler to separate himself from the rest of the pack.

If you opt to not use Scheffler, I would suggest using Ludvid Aberg or Rory McIIroy. Scheffler, McIIroy, and Aberg are the best three players in the world right now.

Don’t get cute this week. Play your studs. Good luck!

I attended my first ever professional golf tournament back in 2019 at the PGA Championship, hosted at Bethpage Black (aka Brian Kirschner’s backyard). I was fortunate to be a student corporate hospitality volunteer for the entire week. It was a pretty sweet gig, as I worked the hospitality tents for half the day and the other half was able to roam the golf course.

I had lofty expectations going to a my first major championship, let alone a golf tournament in general. I came to the conclusion that week that I had a better experience at the practice rounds than watching the competition Thursday through Sunday.

Ever since I witnessed Brooks Koepka capture his second Wannamaker trophy, I have attended four tournaments:

• 2021 Ryder Cup

• 2023 Tour Championship

• 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational

• 2024 Tour Championship

I had an incredible practice round experience at the API, which I will use as a reference in my analysis below of why I prefer practice rounds to tournament rounds:

Less Crowded

There are generally WAY less people who attend Tuesday and Wednesday practice rounds, since they are during the week and there is no competitive golf being played. With less people out on the course, it’s easier to walk around and watch your favorite players practice. I enjoy walking around the property and analyzing the course architecture (Andy is smiling reading this sentence) in a more digestible fashion than having to poke over shoulders all day during a competitive round.

I am not a father yet, but practice rounds are much easier and enjoyable to bring your young children to. There are usually designated autograph areas around the driving range and practice greens, making it easier for players to sign flags and hats. Children can watch more golf with fewer people competing for space to watch players practice, which allows for a more fulfilling experience.

Interacting with Players & Caddies

As a golf sicko like myself, I have tried to ask questions to caddies and players about how the golf course is playing, what their strategy is on certain holes, and any other miscellaneous questions I can come up with at the moment. Players and caddies are more open to interacting with you during a casual practice round, especially if there aren’t many people around.

At the API, my brother and I talked to Austin Kaiser about the Denver Broncos, why players don’t like Bay Hill, Xander’s around-the-green strategy, and much more. It was a cool 15 minute interaction that led him to honking at us and saying bye, while we waited for our uber on the side of the road. Overall, it’s cool to see players hit bombs at the driving range and pull off all different chip shots around the green. Maybe you can learn a few pointers!

The best time to be able to try and talk with players and caddies is later in the day, when they are finishing up their practice sessions. Usually at this time, there’s not many fans still left. If it’s just you out there watching players chip or sharpen their swing on the range, the probability is higher for them to interact with you. Most of my unforgettable moments at tournaments has been at this time of practice rounds.

With that being said, I will be on property at TPC Sawgrass for the Players next week on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. If you are going any of those days, don’t hesitate to hit me up in the discord or on twitter to link up.

I will be sending my thoughts on the golf course and opinions on players in the discord throughout the day on Wednesday. If I can, I will make my debut on our Wednesday night premium show to vocalize what I saw.

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Over the last couple of weeks, there has been rumors of positive strides towards a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV. The big news headline was that Jay Monahan, Tiger Woods, and Adam Scott made a trip out to the White House to discuss details on a deal with President Donald Trump.

As a rumors of a deal keep swirling around the golf media, Fred Couples decided to drop a headline bomb earlier this week. He released comments about Brooks Koepka and his future on LIV: “He wants to come back. I will say that. I believe he really wants to come back and play on Tour.”

My initial reaction to this quote was very skeptic, considering that it is well documented that Koepka only cares about competing in major championships. I have been thinking about what PGA Tour events I believe Koepka truly misses competing at. The only tournament I could think of is the Waste Management, as he won the event in 2015 and in 2021.

Fred Couples has a history of saying comments to that media that ends up being false. The most recent quote was when Couples said that Cam Young will be in Italy as a captain’s pick for Team USA. Cam Young ended up not making the team.

At the end of the day, who knows how much truth their is to this. But with contracts expiring and rumors of LIV pushing out some players, there will be talks on how players can get back on the PGA Tour if there isn’t a deal done by next season.

Two of ISN’s TITANS won a nice chunk of money on Joe Highsmith winning the Cognizant Classic this past weekend.

Boston Capper, co-host of Hold-the-Green podcast, who won a Draftkings DFS GPP contest on Sunday, taking home $10,000.

Joey Molisani had an outright ticket on Joe Highsmith at +12000. Shoutout to the additional discord members in our community who also had Highsmith tickets and in DFS lineups!