For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, as we gear up for what is one of the best fields we will see all year at this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.

1. Rahm on battle for No. 1

Rex Hoggard for Golf Channel…”According to various projections, both McIlroy and Scheffler can overtake Rahm, who reclaimed the top spot with his victory earlier this month at the Genesis Invitational. With so much volatility atop the world ranking, it’s not surprising that style points would become part of the conversation.

• “There’s a lot of satisfaction that comes when you get to be No. 1 when the other players have been playing great golf as well. Scottie had a great year last year, Rory had a great year last year, and then towards the end of the year I kind of picked up,” Rahm said. “If you’re going to do it in any way, you want to get to No. 1 by winning.

• …”I do know this is the most amount of No. 1 changes in this short period of time. I saw some of those stats, because it’s just really interesting, which speaks to the greatness of the game of golf right now – how good everybody’s been playing,” Rahm said.”

2. Keeping the king’s legacy alive

Jeff Babineau for PGATour.com with a few Arnie stories…”Palmer’s spirit, and legacy, live on through his tournament. To rekindle warm thoughts of the man, here are a few Arnie tales from some folks who knew him better than most.”

• “Billy Andrade grew up in Rhode Island, not exactly a golf hotbed, but had a nice junior career and was an attractive recruit for many of the nation’s top colleges. Funny, though, he made only one recruiting visit, that being to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which is where one Arnold Daniel Palmer once played.”

• “Andrade: “My first and only recruiting trip was to Wake Forest, and Coach (Jesse) Haddock offered me the Arnold Palmer Scholarship, and that was it. I was one and done. To get his scholarship, I didn’t know at the time what it would mean. But for 35-plus years, to enjoy the friendship I had with him, the time I had with him, the memories, the golf rounds, to chance to see him as a role model. He took a liking to all of us. Being one of his boys at Wake Forest, it was pretty special. It was an honor to be a part of it. Curtis (Strange), Jay (Haas), Webb Simpson and myself, and many in between. He always kept tabs on us.”

• “For six or seven years later in his career, Andrade had a tradition where he would arrive to Bay Hill on Monday afternoon, scale the steps up to Palmer’s second-floor office, and duck his head in. “Are you ready?” Palmer would ask him. “Let’s go.” And the two would head off to play the back nine together, just the two of them.”

3. LIV ratings

Golfweek’s Riley Hamel…”LIV Golf League’s decision to debut its second season last week was no mistake. The Honda Classic on the PGA Tour was sandwiched between four designated events (WM Phoenix Open, Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship) comprised of the best players in the world.”

• “Wanting no part of competing with either of those, LIV decided to go against the Honda Classic, hoping to capitalize on owning the stronger field between the two events.”

• “LIV’s first event on The CW Network received 291K viewers on Sunday, according to Josh Carpenter of the Sports Business Journal.”

• “The Honda Classic, on the other hand, reeled in 2.38 million.”

4. Changes to LIV players’ travel, expense budgets?

Our Matt Vincenzi…”Shipnuck also revealed that in an aim to cut down the exorbitant spending, they’ve now decided that all travel costs will be on each of the respective teams.”

• “In the quest to build a more self-sustaining business, LIV has off-loaded all of the travel costs to each team, though, recognizing the tour is still in its early days, it did supply a stipend for this season. (The plan is to abolish the stipend beginning in 2024.)

• “Players still keep the individual money they win—in Howell’s case, that was a tidy $4 million—but the $3 million for the team victory goes into the Crusher coffers, not the players’ pockets.

• “Each player is paid an annual salary by the team, and at year’s end bonuses and/or profit-sharing is a possibility. But that depends on how much the team earns and how much it spends, which has brought class wars to LIV.”

• “That is certainly an extraordinary development, with each team choosing to allocate funds in any way they see fit. For instance, Brooks Koepka is choosing to give each player of Smash GC an allowance for travel and hotels.”

5. A tougher test

Jeff Eiseband for PGATour.com…”From 1994-2006, Bay Hill went through a 13-year period seeing its highest winning score at 12 under. While by no means a cupcake, Bay Hill was clearly more forgiving than some of its Florida counterparts.”

• “Over the last decade-and-a-half, headlined by a 2009 redesign led by Palmer, Bay Hill has sharpened its teeth. Since 2007, only three Arnold Palmer Invitational winners have finished with a score of 14 under or lower. In 2020, with Tyrrell Hatton winning at 4 under and only four players finishing under par, Bay Hill ranked as the toughest stop on the PGA TOUR with an average score of 2.1 over par. That number remained north of par in 2021, with an average score of slightly more than 1 over. Scottie Scheffler shot 5 under last year to win and only 10 players finished under par.”

• “One of the trademarks of the 2009 redesign is the par-3 second hole, which consistently plays as one of the hardest holes on the course. When redesigning all 18 greens, Palmer had the second green turned 30 degrees clockwise and the back tee box lengthened. This creates a downhill shot from as far back as 245 yards, with a mostly horizontal green just slanted enough to hold long irons or woods.”

6. USGA elects Fred Perpall president

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard…”Founded in 1894, the United States Golf Association is woven into the fabric of the game here in America. It’s rare when a nearly 130-year-old organization makes history, but that’s precisely what the USGA did last week with the election of its new president.”

• “Fred Perpall will serve a three-year term as the 67th president of the governing body, where he will lead the USGA Executive Committee, an all-volunteer, policy-making board that provides strategic direction and oversight to the association’s full-time staff. The significance? He’s the first Black man to hold the position.”

• “After his nomination and subsequent election, Perpall is the latest to add his name to a long list of individuals who have broken down barriers for the good of the game through the USGA.”

7. LIV Golf’s DP World Tour dispute delayed

Bunkered’s Michael McEwan…“A verdict in the dispute between LIV golfers and the DP World Tour is expected to take much longer than initially expected.”

• “It was thought that an arbitration panel would rule on the matter within two to three weeks of the hearing, which took place in London from February 6-10.”

• “However, according to a report in the Daily Mail, the latest “working estimate” for a verdict is between two to four months.”

• “That means we could be waiting until at least The Masters and, potentially, mid-June for a decision – news which is bound to dismay Luke Donald.”

8. Poulter and Stenson to try qualify for the Open

Elliott Heath for Golf Monthly…”Ian Poulter will attempt to qualify for the 151st Open Championship at next month’s World City Championship in Hong Kong, taking place on the Asian Tour.”

• “The event will offer up four places in the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in July, with the LIV player hoping to book his spot in the oldest Major for the 21st time.”

• “Poulter will be joined by fellow Majesticks teammate Henrik Stenson, although the Swede is in the Open already thanks to his stunning triumph at Royal Troon in 2016. Other LIV Golf players may also opt to tee it up in the event, taking place at Hong Kong Golf Club from 23-26 March.”

9. Photos from Bay Hill

• Check out all of our galleries from Bay Hill.