The Arnold Palmer Invitational field has been cut, now it’s time to crown a champion at Bay Hill.
After 36 holes, Daniel Berger has surged to a five-stroke lead over Akshay Bhatia, who sits solo second. Bhatia’s 6-under 66 was the best round on Friday.
Russell Henley, the tournament’s defending champion, also enjoyed a strong second round, shooting a 3-under 69. He sits in a tie for seventh place with Xander Schauffele entering the weekend.
McIlroy left the driving range ahead of his third-round tee time Saturday at Bay Hill Club and Lodge.
Here’s how to watch the action Saturday:
Arnold Palmer Invitational, third round coverage (ET)
Twenty players missed the cut at 2 over, including 2016 API winner Jason Day and 2026 Farmers Insurance champ Justin Rose.
Two more withdrew before Round 3 kicked off on Saturday. Rory McIlroy and Austin Smotherman announced they were done at the API due to respective back injuries.
Austin Smotherman withdrew during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard due to a back injury.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 7, 2026
Here are the tee times for 50 players competing in the third round at Bay Hill:
Time
TeePlayers9:20 AM
EST1
Andrew Novak
Brian Harman
9:30 AM
EST1
Taylor Pendrith
Nico Echavarria
9:40 AM
EST1
Keith Mitchell
Lucas Glover
9:50 AM
EST1
Matt McCarty
Taylor Moore
10:00 AM
EST1
Chris Kirk
Patrick Rodgers
10:10 AM
EST1
Austin Smotherman (WD)
Tommy Fleetwood
10:25 AM
EST1
Robert MacIntyre
Nicolai Højgaard
10:35 AM
EST1
Andrew Putnam
Alex Noren
10:45 AM
EST1
Michael Kim
Max Greyserman
10:55 AM
EST1
Hideki Matsuyama
Viktor Hovland
11:05 AM
EST1
Maverick McNealy
Jacob Bridgeman
11:20 AM
EST1
Matt Fitzpatrick
Nick Taylor
11:30 AM
EST1
Billy Horschel
Corey Conners
11:40 AM
EST1
Jordan Spieth
Jhonattan Vegas
11:50 AM
EST1
Harry Hall
Kurt Kitayama
12:00 PM
EST1
Ryo Hisatsune
Daniel Bennett
(a)
12:15 PM
EST1
Adam Scott
Si Woo Kim
12:25 PM
EST1
Harris English
Scottie Scheffler
12:35 PM
EST1
Michael Thorbjornsen
Sepp Straka
12:45 PM
EST1
Min Woo Lee
Cameron Young
12:55 PM
EST1
Rory McIlroy (WD)
Ryan Fox
1:10 PM
EST1
Bud Cauley
Chris Gotterup
1:20 PM
EST1
Xander Schauffele
Russell Henley
1:30 PM
EST1
Collin Morikawa
Rickie Fowler
1:40 PM
EST1
Ludvig Åberg
Sahith Theegala
1:50 PM
EST1
Daniel Berger
Akshay Bhatia