New Look Bay Hill Debuts This Week

Arnold Palmer's event takes center stage this week, as the PGA Tour stops at Orlando's historic Bay Hill Club and Lodge. The club, which has been Palmer's home since 1965, received a dramatic facelift following last year's event, and those changes will be revealed starting Thursday.

"We've literally done something to every hole," Palmer told the Orlando Sentinel. "It'll be new to most all [the players]."

Right away you'll notice that the par has changed from 70 back to 72, as two holes that had been played as long par 4s are once again par 5s. Cosmetically, greens have been significantly remodeled, new turf and tees were added, and a number of bunkers were altered.

The field for this weeks' Arnold Palmer Invitational includes Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Camilo Villegas, Ryo Ishikawa, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and David Duval.

All player commitments for the event are available at www.arnoldpalmerinvitational.com.

Obviously absent is defending champion Tiger Woods, who said over the weekend that he just wasn't ready to play at Bay Hill.

"I wasn’t ready to play in Tavistock or play in Bay Hill, I expressed that to Joe [Lewis, Tavistock Group chairman] as well as Arnold [Palmer]," Woods told Golf Channel Anchor Kelly Tilgham. "I want to play in these events but I just wasn’t ready. I started too late with my preparation. Hank and I are starting to work now and start to get it going."

A number of media outlets reported that Woods was at Augusta National for a practice round on Monday.