Good afternoon! Welcome to Shanks. Full Swing S2 is officially live on Netflix. They dive right into the LIV vs PGA drama in the first episode, with a special focus on Rory McIlroy. They haven’t explained what a cut line is even once!

Here's what we've got for ya today:

• Preview and Bets: The AP Invitational

• LIV Drops OWGR Bid, People Have Opinions.

• Shots Heard Round The World

• Golf Jeopardy Question

• Arnold Palmer Throwback Video

• Thing We’d Buy If We Weren’t Broke

Preview and Bets: The AP Invitational

🚩 Location: Bay Hill Club and Lodge

💰 Purse: $20M - $4M to first.

👑 Previous Winner: Kurt Kitayama

👀 Watch On: Golf Channel, NBC, ESPN+

The AP Invitational Field & How To Watch 👀 

First things first: the weather looks like it SHOULD be fine. There is currently just a 60% percent chance of showers on Sunday morning, while the preceding three days look clear.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk golf.

The AP Invitational may be the first time we see a non-longshot winner on tour this year. Not that there is any reason to hate on the longshots, mind you, but it’s the most top heavy field we’ve had in 2024.

Eventually, one of the more well known guys is going to win, right? Right.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational is a signature event with a limited field and no cut. There are 69 players in the field (nice) and that includes the Top 50 in Fedex Cup points from last season, tour winners this year, and sponsors exemptions.

Note: Because there’s 69 guys in the field, Nick Dunlap will be playing by himself.

Tee Times and Pairings For The First Two Rounds

Arnold Palmer Favorites

Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Aberg, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns, Cam Young, Justin Thomas, and Max Homa.

How To Watch The Arnold Palmer Invitational

Thursday, March 7: 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Friday, March 8: 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Saturday, March 9: 12:30-2:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 2:30-6 p.m. ET (NBC)
Sunday, March 10: 12:30-2:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 2:30-6 p.m. ET (NBC)

Previous Winners 

2021 - Bryson Dechambino

2022 - Scottie Scheffler

2023 - Kurt Kitayama

Shanks Picks

Shanks Readers, we’re happy to introduce our friend Steph Smalls to the community. She’s a gambling expert and this is her debut card, so she wanted to keep this first one a little more conservative than your used to seeing here.

Shanks is up 42.29 Units on the year.

Winner: Jordan Spieth +2200

Strap on your seatbelts. We’re going on a Jordan Spieth rollercoaster ride this weekend.

Top Five: Scottie Scheffler +150

Scottie made a putter change and as we’ve talked about on here a hundred times, the wand is the only thing holding him back.

Top Ten: Ludvig Aberg +180

Can he drive the ball far, and with accuracy? Yes. Does he have the approach game necessary to win at Bay Hill? Also yes.

Top Twenty: Matt Fitzpatrick +105

Matt gained strokes in all four major categories last week. dude loves bay hill - last 5 seasons: 2nd, t9, t10, t9, t14. putting was 💩 on the west coast swing, but historically better on Bermuda.

Longshot: Emiliano Grillo +10000

Grillo has solid course history here and has gained strokes on APP in 4/7 tournaments this season and OTT in 5/7.

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LIV Drops OWGR Bid, Everyone Has Opinions About It, But Matt Fitzpatrick Has The Correct Opinion, Actually.

Tuesday morning, the news broke that LIV would be halting it’s efforts to earn OWGR points. They finally realized it was a fruitless endeavor.

“We have made significant efforts to fight for you and ensure your accomplishments are recognized within the existing ranking system,” Norman said to LIV Membership in a memo. “Unfortunately, OWGR has shown little willingness to productively work with us.”

Of course, this lead to players at the AP Invitational having to answer questions about what they thought about the ranking system.

Most of them said, in different ways, that they know that OWGR isn’t currently accurate. They all know that there is some legitimate top end talent at LIV.

But Matt Fitzpatrick, being the total nerd that he is, provided the only solution we here at Shanks agree with.

Ditch OWGR, and replace it with DataGolf.

“I don’t think the world rankings are a true representation of the golf game at the minute. I don’t really look at them or pay attention to them anymore. I don’t think they’re right. So I look at DataGolf,” Fitzpatrick said on Golf Channel.

For all this talk about OWGR, DataGolf has been using strokes gained metrics to accurately rank the worlds best golfers this entire time. It’s what we rely on here at Shanks to make our weekly picks (reminder, up 42+ units on the year).

For the record, DataGolf ranks LIV’s Joaquin Niemann as the 12th best golfer in the world, whereas OWGR says he’s the 76th. 

Shots Heard Round The World

THANKS, ARNIE

R&A MAKES BIG CHANGES TO OPEN QUALIFYING CRITERIA

PADRAIG HARRINGTON’S STEP DRILL

Golf Jeopardy

Hit us with your best guess on Twitter.

Throwback Arnold Palmer

This video of Arnold attempting the water skip trick is a classic.

Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

It’s almost April baby.

“Elevate your Masters watch party this April with the Taste of the Masters hosting kit, delivering Augusta National Golf Club's timeless concessions to your door. Order now and receive it for Masters week, so you can enjoy and serve your guests the authentic Tournament viewing experience.”

Here’s what they offer:

• Egg Salad (24oz)

• Pimento Cheese (24oz)

• Pork Bar-B-Que (24oz)

• Plain Potato Chips (6)

• Bar-B-Que Potato Chips (6)

• Cookies (6)

• Georgia Pecan Caramel Popcorn (6)

• Masters Branded Souvenir Cups (sleeve of 25)

• Masters Branded Wax Paper (sleeve of 12 sheets)

• Masters Coasters (pack of 12)

• Hosting Kit Materials

Note: Bread and buns are NOT included

Pre-Order

That’s all folks! See you Saturday Morning.