Week 12 Approach Shots: Arnold Palmer Invitational

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A star-studded field descends on Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club and Lodge this week for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Playing at the venerable course in Orlando, FL, is FedExCup leader and the world's No. 2-ranked player, Steve Stricker, who is coming off an eighth-place finish last week at the Transitions Championship. Also playing this week is No. 3 Phil Mickelson and No. 6 Jim Furyk, who won for the first time since 2007 when he captured the Transitions Championship outside Tampa, FL.

TV/Radio (all times ET)

TV: GOLF CHANNEL (Thu.-Fri., 3-6 p.m.) NBC (Sat.-Sun. 2:30-6 p.m.) RADIO: PGA TOUR NETWORK - Sirius 209, XM 146, PGATOUR.COM (Thu.-Sun., 12-6 p.m.)

Weather

The forecast calls for showers early on Friday and thunderstorms under Sunday. The rest of the weekend should be sunny, low 70s. Winds should be between 10-15 mph. Updated weather info

Key links

• Expert picks | Tee times • Rankings | Fantasy Insider • Inside the Field | Course

A year ago, Tiger Woods came from five strokes off the pace on the final day to overtake Sean O'Hair and win his sixth Arnold Palmer Invitational. Woods is not playing this week.

AMATEURS ACCEPTED: The tournament traditionally invites champions of the previous year's U.S. Amateur and the Southern Amateur to play. In 2009, at age 17, Korean Byeong-Hun An became the youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur and in the process earned a spot in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Both of An's parents won Olympic medals in table tennis at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul. An's father, Jae-Hyung An, won bronze in doubles for Korea, while his mother, Zhi Min-Jiao, won bronze in singles and silver in doubles while representing China.

TOUGH FOR INTERNATIONALS: Since this tournament began in 1966 as the Florida Citrus Open, only three non-Americans have managed to win, including Ernie Els of South Africa in 1998, Australian Rod Pampling in 2006 and Vijay Singh of Fiji in 2007. Since 1990, numerous international players have come close without being able to secure the win. The second-place finishers in that period are Singh (1993-94 and 2005), Australia's Greg Norman (1990) and Stuart Appleby (1997), South Africa's Nick Price (1994), New Zealand's Michael Campbell (2002) and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell (2005).

LOADED FIELD: Seven players in the field have at least 13 PGA TOUR wins, led by Phil Mickelson's 37. Vijay Singh is next, with 34, followed by Davis Love III (20), Ernie Els (17), Jim Furyk and Kenny Perry (14) and David Duval (13).

MASTERS PREP: Phil Mickelson announced at the CA Championship that he was adding the Arnold Palmer Invitational to his schedule (due to missing the Accenture Match Play Championship). Mickelson has competed in the event 10 previous times and won in 1997 -- his 10th career PGA TOUR victory. He finished second in 2001 to Tiger Woods after carding a 66 (-6) in the final round, which forced third-round leader Woods to make a 15-foot birdie putt on the last hole to avoid a playoff.

MASTERS AND ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL: Since the start of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 1966, only Fred Couples (1992) and Tiger Woods (2001 and 2002) have won the Masters and the Arnold Palmer Invitational in the same year. Since 1960, only six players have won an event in the two weeks prior to winning the Masters. Below are the six players to accomplish the feat:

STRICKER'S BAY HILL RECORD: The 2010 Northern Trust Open champion and FedExCup points leader Steve Stricker will be making his first appearance at Bay Hill since 2005. Stricker missed his last four cuts at Bay Hill (2002-2005). This will be his 12th start at the event. His best finish was fourth in 1995. Stricker posted his fourth top-10 finish (in six starts) last week at the Transitions Championship, where he finished T8.

Bolton's Yahoo! selections

Fantasy columnist Rob Bolton will provide his Yahoo! picks as a starting point for you every week. Use the advice and opinion from his Power Rankings and Fantasy Insider to assist in determining lineups changes throughout each tournament. Group Starters Bench Group A Ernie Els Phil Mickelson Group B K.J. Choi, Nick Watney Retief Goosen, Camilo Villegas Group C Graeme McDowell Charl Schwartzel

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Columnists' predictions

Each week, PGATOUR.COM columnists will predict the winner. Here are their picks for the Transitions Championship. Columnist Pick Comment Stan AWTREY CAMILO VILLEGAS: New course conditions at Bay Hill could help Villegas, who hasn't played well there in the past, but is off to a hot start this season. Craig DOLCH SEAN O'HAIR: Has finished third and second in last two tries at Bay Hill. Tiger Woods can't beat him this year. John MAGINNES JIM FURYK: I'm looking for Furyk to go back to back. The long road back is complete and one isnt going to be enough for him. Melanie HAUSER ERNIE ELS: Hot hand. Former champ. Home game. Hospitable host. Gotta say it. Who Els?

Did you know?

Both of Korean amateur Byeong-Hun An's parents won Olympic medals in table tennis at the 1988 Seoul Games. An's father, Jae-Hyung An, won bronze in doubles for Korea, while his mother, Zhi Min Jiao, won bronze in singles and silver in doubles while representing China.

What the winner gets

A win this week at World Golf Championships-CA Championship will earn the following benefits: • Fully Exempt for the remainder of 2010 and all of 2011 and 2012. • 500 FedExCup points. It took 354 points to qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup in 2009 and 494 to reach the Deutsche Bank Championship. • A spot in the following events in order of play: 2010 Masters, 2010 PLAYERS Championship, 2010 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, 2010 Memorial, 2010 AT&T National, 2010 PGA Championship, 2010 WGC-Bridgestone Inv. • A spot in the 2011 SBS Championship. • If a U.S. player, 1,080,000 points towards making the 2011 Presidents Cup team. • If it is a second victory for a player since last June 4, a spot in the U.S. Open.