Who will win the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational? We’re sure this question must have popped up in every golf enthusiast’s mind in the past few days. That’s because the prestigious Signature event is only a few days away from teeing off. And it will be extremely difficult to answer that question. After all, the field is packed with the absolute best golfers in the world.

This makes the contests as exciting as they come! Plus, there is a $20 million purse involved. So every golfer on the course will be even more eager to grab the maximum from it. The one who does win the title will bank a $4 million prize money payout.

Well, we don’t claim to have any insider knowledge of who could win. But we have a fair idea about a few contenders who would be favorites going into the event. So get ready to place your bets as we’re here to share the 5 top golfers who might dominate the Bay Hill Golf Course to win the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Scottie Scheffler

First comes the world no. 1, always! Scottie Scheffler will always be a favorite to win any tournament he participates in during his prime years. And we are living through it right now, as Scheffler just showed the world why he is a force to be reckoned with after his performance in 2024. The 13x PGA Tour winner won 7 official tournaments, 1 unofficial event, and an Olympic gold medal in Paris. If it was not for the injury, Scheffler would have won a few titles in 2025 as well. But now is his best shot, as he was the last person who cracked the code of performing at the Bay Hill Golf Course. And it wasn’t even his first time. The 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational title holder also won the event in 2022. Coming in as the defending champion, Scheffler will be a threat to every golfer on the field as he aims to win his third this year.

Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy started his 2025 PGA Tour campaign with a victory at the Pebble Beach Golf Links. And that was the most confident fans have seen the Irishman in a very long time. He may have had some ups and downs since then, but McIlroy knows that he can win the title once he is locked in. Moreover, his goal would also be to prevent Xander Schauffele from winning the title. Because if Schauffele does win, then McIlroy will lose his second place on the OWGR leaderboard a week after he took it from his American rival. Lastly, the 27x PGAT winner knows how to win at the Bay Hill Golf Course.

He has done it before in a field that included Bryson DeChambeau, Tiger Woods, and Justin Rose, who were all chasing him. There is no question he can repeat the feat in 2025 as well.

Xander Schauffele

McIlroy’s goal is to defend his place and Schauffele’s is to win it back. Battling his injury issues, Xander Schauffele has been out of commission since early January 2025. After two months of recovery, rehabilitation, and patience, the world no. 3 will finally return to action on March 6. And he will have his sights on both, the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational and his second place on the OWGR leaderboard. After bagging two majors in 2024, everyone would agree that Schauffele certainly has the ability and will to go all the way through in the Signature event.

Justin Thomas

While McIlroy and Schauffele will be fighting over many goals, Justin Thomas will only have one target in mind, getting back to winning. The 31-year-old hasn’t won a single title since his triumph in the 2022 PGA Championship. Thomas has had a glorious career with 15 PGA Tour wins. But the last 3 years have been woeful as he has had many near misses. Thomas has had 2 runner up and 13 top-10 finishes since. It’s about time JT gets back on track and the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational is the perfect stage for him to do so.

Keegan Bradley

Keegan Bradley is on the hunt to book his ticket to the 2025 Ryder Cup on merit. He is already the captain of the team, but has made his intentions about going in as a playing captain very clear. And for Bradley to rise the ranks on the Team U.S. Ryder Cup leaderboard, he needs wins. A signature event like the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational will help him jump up to the 5th spot on the leaderboard. Hence, fans can expect Keegan Bradley to go all in to grab those 3000 Ryder Cup points and get one step closer to being a playing captain.

We can also add the likes of Jason Day, Hideki Matsuyama, and Collin Morikawa to this list. Day being a former champion and Matsuyama and Morikawa have been in great form in 2025. Who do you think will win the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational? Let us know in the comments section.