PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy at T1 after round 1 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard

The Florida Swing continues! We see a strong field playing at Bay Hill in honor of Mr. Arnold Palmer. Irishman Rory McIlroy is one of the bookies' favourites but there is plenty of starpower.

Rory McIlroy is at T1 on the PGA Tour´sArnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard alongside Corey Conners who share the top spot after round one. They sit at the top of the leaderboard with a score of 6 under par. Bryson DeChambeau in position 3 with a score of 5 under par.

McIlroy, cautiously optimistic for the next few days, told press "I saw a lot of really positive signs out there today, which was, which is really encouraging".

Martin Laird, Lee Westwood and Matthew Fitzpatrickare 3 below par after the opening round at place T7. They played the course at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge in 69 shots in the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.

Fitzpatrick, 26, won the DP World Tour Chamionship in Dubai in December 2020.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational sees a larger than normal pool of English pros for a PGA Tour event, with other big names such as Matt Wallace, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter, and Tommy Fleetwood all finishing the first round at position T15, having each played the course in 70 shots. They are all currently trailing leader Rory McIlroy by 4 shots.

Casey, currently ranked 18 in the world golf ranking, posted 1 eagle in his opening round.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard is part of the PGA Tour. The tournament is being played from March 4th until the 7th of March 2021 at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida (USA). This year a total prize money of $9,300,000 will be awarded to the players. The winner receives $1,674,000. The course for the tournament at Bay Hill Club & Lodge plays at Par 72.

Top-5 Leaderboard: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard