Golf Tips: Best bets for the Arnold Palmer, Kenya Open and Puerto Rico

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Matt Fitz the bill at Arnie's Place

The PGA Tour remains in the Sunshine State for the second leg of the Florida Swing - the Arnold Palmer Invitational...

Steve Rawlings says: "In four previous visits to Bay Hill, (last year's winner) Bryson DeChambeau had finished second and fourth and the four winners before Bryson had all finished inside the top-five here before they won.

"Matt Every was the seventh man to win the event more than once in 2015 and Tiger Woods has won the tournament a staggering eight times, so course form stands up really well and previous winners have a great record...

"I'm in no rush to side with the world number one (and pre-tournament favourite), Jon Rahm. As already highlighted, the fact that he's never played here before is a negative and his overall Florida form, that reads MC-63-12-6-32-9, is nothing to write home about either...

"With current for figures reading 2-6-10 and course form figures reading MC-27-13-MC-2-9-10, it's highly likely that England's Matthew Fitzpatrick will figure in the shake up and with eight places on offer, the 28/1 with the Sportbook looks more than fair."

Steve's bet: Matthew Fitzpatrick @ 28/1 each-way (Sportsbook)

Arnold Palmer Invitational Each-Way Tips: Casey can be king of the Hill

Dave Tindall has three each-way tips for Bay Hill starting with a certain Englishman...

Dave says: "My first pick is Paul Casey, already a contributor to the list of Euro success in the Sunshine State.

Casey's two wins came in the Valspar Championship (2018 and 2019) but he's also made the top 10 in two of his last three starts here. They were last year and 2016.

Dig deeper and he's been a leaderboard regular at Bay Hill, sitting in the top 10 at halfway in his last three appearances. His game looks ideal to challenge heavily again.

"After finishing 2021 racking up impressive SG: Tee-To-Green numbers, he's continued that in 2022. He ranked ninth in Dubai and 10th at Riviera for TTG.

"His early travels this year have taken him to Singapore, Dubai, Saudi and California (Genesis Invitational) and he's made the top 25 in all four, three of those top 16s."

Dave's bet: Back Paul Casey each-way @ 34.0

Arnold Palmer Invitational First-Round Leader Tips: Sergio can start fast

Next Dave has three picks to be first round leader at Bay Hill on Thursday starting with a certain Spaniard.

Dave says: "One thing to note when looking at recent first-round leaders here is the number of Europeans and Internationals taking Thursday honours.

"Nine of the last 11 to have had a piece of the R1 lead are Corey Conners, Rory McIlroy, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Henrik Stenson, Emiliano Grillo, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jason Day, Adam Scott and Justin Rose.

That's five Euros, two Aussies, a Canadian and an Argentine. Coincidence? Perhaps not when we look at leaderboards from other Florida events.

So, this helps point me towards Sergio Garcia at 50/1. The Spaniard has plenty of quick starts to his name in recent tournaments.

"Between mid-October and early January, Sergio ended day one inside the top five in four straight events - the CJ Cup, Mayakoba, the DP World Tour Championship and the Dubai Desert Classic."

Dave's bet: Back Sergio Garcia e/w @ 51.0

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Course and current form stats

Andy Swales provides the course form, weighs up the form and picks his players to follow...

Andy says: "Hitting fairways is generally not overcomplicated at Bay Hill, but finding the putting surfaces is certainly more problematic.

"It is one of the few venues on the PGA Tour where the tournament percentage for golfers hitting Greens in Regulation is actually lower than the figure for Driving Accuracy.

"Of the 29 most regular venues used on Tour, only Harbour Town, Muirfield Village, Augusta National and Pebble Beach, post similar untypical statistics as Bay Hill...

"Matt Fitzpatrick is moving ever closer to a maiden PGA Tour title. Runner-up at Bay Hill in 2019, and has opened the current year with a brace of T10s during the West Coast Swing."

Andy's Player To Watch: Matt Fitzpatrick @ 30.029/1

Puerto Rico Open: Kitayama worth chancing

Arnold Palmer Invitational is the main event on the PGA Tour this week but the Puerto Rico Open makes for a tasty side dish. Steve Rawlings takes a good look at the event...

Steve says: "Out of form veterans seem to do really well here. DA Points had just turned 40 when he won five years ago and the 2015 champ, Alex Cejka, was winning on the PGA Tour for the first time at the age of 45.

"The first five editions went to experienced vets, although none of them were prolific, and the top-class Finau and Hovland are the only Puerto Rico Open winners to win anywhere else subsequently.

"Grace was very well backed last year, Hovland went off favourite two years ago, Finau was matched at a high of 55.054/1 and Hadley was around that price eight years ago too, but every other winner has been trading at a triple-figure price before the off...

"There was an awful lot to like about Kurt Kitayama's performance at the Honda Classic last week.

"Having led after round one, following a six-under-par 64 opening, he hung around impressively all week to finish third and I thought he'd be slightly shorter than he is here.

"The 29-year-old Californian has twice won on the DP World Tour at exposed venues like this one - at the Oman Open and the Mauritius Open - and on his only previous visit here he finished a respectable 17th in 2017."

Steve's bet: Back Kurt Kitayama @ 34.0

Puerto Rico Open 2022: Course and current form stats

Andy has the couse info, form stats and players to watch for Puerto Rico.

Andy says: "Fairways are reasonably generous, with areas of dense vegetation dotted around the venue.

"The course certainly encourages players to launch into their tee shots. Between 1.1.2016 and 31.12.2021, the stats show that Grand Reserve was the 10th easiest course (out of 29 regular venues) to locate fairways off the tee...

"It's more more than four years since Ryan Armour's solitary PGA Tour win. However, the 46-year-old's record in these 'low-prestige' tournaments is still better than most of those teeing-up this week."

Andy's Player to Watch: Ryan Armour @ 30.029/1

Kenya Open: McGowan's the man at Muthaiga

The DP World Tour returns this week and it's back with an intriguing tournament - the Magical Kenya Open.

Steve Rawlings says: "With the DP World Tour taking a bit of a break, anyone that's ticked over elsewhere may hold an advantage.

"It's interesting to see thatMarcus Kinhult has played and won in Spain on the Nordic Golf League and anyone that's played on South Africa's Sunshine Tour may be of interest here.

"South Africans have a very good record at Karen Country Club and there's no reason to think they wouldn't thrive here also given how similar the venue appears.

"Nairobi sits at just a shade under 1,800 metres which is around 50 metres higher than Joburg so anyone that's fared well in the Joburg Open could feel at home here...

"Ross McGowan is one of those to have ticked along in South Africa over the last couple of weeks and his fourth-place finish in the Jonsson Workwear Open was very encouraging last week given he ranked first for Greens In Regulation and seventh for Putting Average."

Steve's bet: Ross McGowan @ 150/1 each-way (Sportsbook)

Kenya Open Each-Way Tips: Into thin air should suit Sharma

Matt Cooper has three each-way selections for the Kenya Open with the Betfair Sportsbook paying seven places...

Matt says: "Back when Shubhankar Sharma burst onto the DP World Tour scene in 2017 he did so by winning in the thin air of the high veldt at the 2017 Joburg Open and within weeks he was backing that up by leading the WGC Mexico Championship through 36 and 54 holes in Mexico City.

"He struggled in the aftermath of that excitement, but his form in the last six months has been excellent. In fact, his last 16 starts have reaped nine top 30 finishes, including half a dozen top 12s.

"Within those efforts, he was tied ninth with 18 holes to go in Crans at the European Masters and third in the Open de Espana in Madrid - both at altitude, of course.

"Other than the thin air, this week is also a traditional tree-lined test and that suits Sharma too: he has a fine record at each of Delhi GC, Hong Kong GC and Wentworth."

Matt's bet: Back Shubhankar Sharma each-way @ 41.0

Kenya Open: Course and current form stats

Andy provides the lowdown on the course, form and his players to watch at the Muthaiga Golf Club.

Andy says: "Muthaiga Golf Club is one of the country's most famous sporting venues, and was opened 109 years ago.

"Situated around five miles north of Nairobi city centre, Muthaiga is a lush parkland venue with tight tree-lined fairways and water hazards on nine holes.

"There is also a number of testing dog legs to be conquered on a course which has hosted numerous professional tournaments over the decades...

"Adri Arnaus is yet to win on the DP World Tour but has finished runner-up four times. The 27-year-old from Barcelona has made a strong start to the current year, highlighted by his podium performance in Saudi Arabia (Asian Tour) in early February."

Andy's Player to Watch: Adri Arnaus @ 28.027/1