{"id":512930,"date":"2026-03-04T03:29:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T03:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/512930\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T03:29:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T03:29:16","slug":"sleeper-picks-arnold-palmer-invitational-presented-by-mastercard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/512930\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleeper Picks: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard"},"content":{"rendered":"

11H AGO<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

4 Min Read<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sleeper Picks<\/p>\n

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Running with Rick: Three players who can rise up at Arnold Palmer Invitational<\/p>\n

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A<\/p>\n

Change Text Size<\/p>\n

Written by Rob Bolton<\/p>\n

NOTE: These picks did not appear in Rob\u2019s Power Rankings<\/a>, but each presents value for the bet specified.<\/p>\n

Sepp Straka (+6600) … When I opened this market, started scrolling from the top and didn\u2019t find him, I thought that I had missed something. Nope. Well, I did, it\u2019s just that he\u2019s waaaaay down in the middle of the pack. So, while he\u2019s not even close to a traditional Sleeper, even in this robust field, these odds defend the nod. Consider that he finished T5 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard last year after opening with a 5-over 77. He had rallied with a potent combination of accuracy on approach, elite touch around greens and one of his best performances of the year with the putter. When right, he\u2019s the total package, which is what Bay Hill Club & Lodge requires. Also recently put four sturdy rounds together for a T2 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.<\/p>\n

Keith Mitchell (+1200) … Granted, connecting for a lucrative payday in this market is unexpected, but \u2013 count \u2018em \u2013 eight of my picks have delivered in the last two years. And the most recent in a handful of close calls was Akshay Bhatia\u2019s T6 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am that he led after three rounds three weeks ago. Mitchell\u2019s hook is that he\u2019s streaky, so when he hangs up a T6 like he did last week at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, it\u2019s a signal to hop aboard. It was a wild week at PGA National for the 34-year-old as he supported his patented ball-striking by leading the field in distance in all of driving. That formula plays up even higher at Bay Hill where he\u2019s already proven it. He\u2019s 5-for-5 with a T6 in 2019 and a T5 in 2020.<\/p>\n

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Keith Mitchell makes birdie putt on No. 18 at Cognizant Classic to secure spot at Arnold Palmer Invitational<\/p>\n

Sahith Theegala (+540) … The value of the Signature Events speaks for itself both for the players and the fans, but the trickle-down effect for bettors hits more like a gullywasher. Even though a boatload of notables command shorter odds, there\u2019s still a rich pool of talent downstream from which to choose. That\u2019s where you\u2019ll find the 28-year-old who has put 2025 in the distant past. He\u2019s 6-for-6 this season with two top 10s and another pair of top 25s. He\u2019s supporting his balanced bag with superior short game, but also slots 12th on the PGA TOUR in Par-5 Scoring. And before his injury-impacted campaign, he finished T14 at Bay Hill in 2023 and T6 in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"Sahith<\/p>\n

Sahith Theegala holes 29-foot eagle putt on No. 1 at The Genesis<\/p>\n

Ryan Fox (+255) … With a field of only 72, kickbacks in this market won\u2019t be as tasty pre-tournament relative to when the 36-hole cut falls, so if you don\u2019t dabble before balls are in the air on Thursday, keep tabs on the Kiwi at the midpoint. He\u2019s in the longest quarter of the field in terms of odds but he\u2019s also been a model of consistency no matter the circuit, country or venue. Arrives having cashed in 11 straight starts worldwide. Three resulted in a top 20, including in his last at The Genesis Invitational where he finished T7 in his debut, and he was one stroke outside the bubble in his previous two. He also finished T14 in his only prior appearance at Bay Hill in 2023, the year before he joined the PGA TOUR.<\/p>\n

Sungjae Im (+250) … No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Those are actual odds for this machine in this market. The rub is that he hasn\u2019t competed in over four months. Some of the time in the interim was devoted to a military obligation in his native South Korea, while the gap since then was a result of recovery from an injured right wrist. He wasn\u2019t a world beater before the break, but he recorded consecutive top 20s worldwide just before it. So, if anything, the fulfillment of a personal objective and extended rest for one of the busiest talents on the planet can only invigorate his soul as he dusts off the rust. But back to those odds! They\u2019re not going to last long, so pounce while you can, especially at Bay Hill where he\u2019s 7-for-7 with two third-place finishes highlighting five top 20s and a pair of T21s.<\/p>\n

Odds were sourced at DraftKings.<\/p>\n

For resources to overcome a gambling problem, call or text 1-800-MY-RESET today.<\/p>\n

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Mar 2, 2026<\/p>\n

Odds Outlook: Former champs Scheffler, McIlroy top odds board at Bay Hill<\/a>Golfbet News<\/a>\"Image\"Image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"11H AGO 4 Min Read Sleeper Picks *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]> Running with Rick: Three players who can rise up at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-512930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}