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Englishman Tommy Fleetwood was a trendy pick to win the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando this weekend, but less than two rounds into the event, he’s found himself out of contention. Most of that comes thanks to an abysmal showing at the 6th hole on Friday.
Things couldn’t have gone much worse for the PGA Tour pro, as it took him 10 strokes to find the cup. He cost himself a chance at victory with a series of errors, biting bettors who backed the golfer in the process!
Fleetwood entered the weekend with anywhere from 22/1 to 32/1 odds of winning the event, depending on the sportsbook. While that didn’t pin him as the favorite, it did land him near the top of the list when it came to possible contenders.
And given the potential return on investment, he became a popular pick amongst gambling experts.
Golf Digest listed him among their winning predictions, contributor Chris Powers snagging him at 28/1.
Golf.com’s Brady Kannon also believed him to be a smart choice, eyeing him with 32/1 odds.
The Englishman comes in off of a 10th-place finish at the Genesis Invitational and has three top 10 finishes here at Bay Hill… He’s one of the best players in this field on difficult golf courses and ranks 15th in Hole Proximity from 200+ yards over the last 24 rounds.
Even PGA Tour writer Rob Bolton was high on Tommy Fleetwood, placing him 7th in his 15-man pre-tournament power rankings.
Anyone who tailed those predictions saw their hopes come crashing down when the golfer took to the 6th hole.
Tommy Fleetwood played one of the worst holes you’ll see from a pro.
10 strokes.
That’s what Fleetwood recorded on the par-five 6th.
After landing his tee shot on the fairway, he tried to get aggressive. But instead of finding the green from a little under 200 yards out, Fleetwood proceeded to hit three straight shots into the water, resulting in drops and penalties.
After finally finding land on what was his eighth shot of the hole, he two-putted to end the disaster.
Tommy Fleetwood almost broke the Shot Tracker on 6 😳 pic.twitter.com/yq6xtTVukF
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) March 8, 2024
To be fair, it’s one of the most brutal holes on an already difficult course. Still, he might’ve thought about playing it safe after that initial drop and potentially settling for bogey.
The +5 added to what was a tough front nine that saw Fleetwood shoot above par four other times.
His back nine held mixed results with three bogeys, two birdies, and an eagle, putting him at +8 on the day and +9 for the weekend. He currently ranks 67th in the 69-man field.