Arnold Palmer Invitational 2015: Tee times, pairings for Thursday’s round at Bay Hill

The last big pre-Masters PGA Tour event tees off Thursday morning in the Orlando area. The Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill has become one of the top Tour stops for the best players in the world trying to get in a little prep work before Augusta. While the man who has historically dominated this event, Tiger Woods, is not here for the second straight year, the world No. 1 is in attendance for the first time in his career.

Rory McIlroy’s early season schedule has fluctuated a bit in his five years playing events in the States. The first few months of the year have been particularly varied, and he’d never really settled on a pre-Masters routine. Some of this has to do with where he’s at in his career -- it’s still early and we shouldn’t expect some locked-in schedule like Tiger. But his game has also been in different spots this time of year, most notably in 2013, when he looked totally lost with his new Nike clubs and added both events in Texas the weeks immediately preceding the Masters. With his game in a much better place last year, the Shell Houston Open was his only start after Doral and before Augusta.

Despite that movement in his past schedules, he had never stopped at Bay Hill. It is surprising given the status this tournament holds as one of the better non-major, non-WGC tournaments of the year. It is generally considered one of the best places to warm-up for the Masters and also has the imprimatur of Arnold Palmer attracting some of the biggest stars. Palmer’s presence is a big reason for McIlroy finally showing up here. He said as much in his press conference on Wednesday:

“It’s been a long time coming. I haven’t played this tournament for a few reasons over the past few years, but it’s nice that it was able to fit into the schedule and I’ve sort of rued the decision I haven’t come sooner ... I’m excited to get to spend some time with him. It’s Arnold’s tournament, so it’s nice to come here and honor him and all that he’s done for our game and this Tour.”

After starting the year as his same dominant self over in the Middle East on the Euro Tour, McIlroy has had some spotty moments in two starts on the Florida swing. He finished 1st and 2nd in those two Euro starts, but then missed the cut at the Honda Classic and hit some horrendous shots at Doral, one of which prompted a chucking of his 3-iron into a lake.

McIlroy has not committed to the Houston Open yet this year, so this is likely to be his final start before the Masters. Most of the hype at Augusta will all be focused on the world No. 1 completing the career slam. This is a perfect opportunity to shore up whatever he struggled with those last two starts and roll to Augusta firm in his favorite status.

McIlroy will start his first round at Bay Hill in the afternoon wave with Jason Day and Rickie Fowler, two others who will be among the favorites at the Masters. They’re set to tee off at 12:56 p.m. ET on No. 1. Golf Channel will expand their typical Thursday coverage to four hours and come on the air at 2 p.m. ET. So you should see almost every shot in the group throughout the afternoon. Here’s the full tee sheet for the opening round: