8 Big Names Missing The 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational
We look at which notable PGA Tour players are not in the field for this week's $20m Arnold Palmer Invitational Signature Event
The third Signature Event of the 2026 PGA Tour season has arrived as Orlando's Bay Hill Club and Lodge once again stages the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
It's a stacked line-up as always for one of the circuit's prestigious $20m events, with a star-studded 72-man field highlighted by World No.1 Scottie Scheffler and No.2 Rory McIlroy, with 19 of the world's top 20 playing.
Tiger Woods
Woods is back hitting full shots as he ramps up his Masters preparation after recently confirming a return to Augusta is not off the table.
He was at TGL on Sunday night and it now does seem likely that he'll play The Masters, but is he going to have a tune-up before? It won't be this week at Bay Hill in a tournament he has won on eight occasions.
Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka knew he would not be eligible for sponsor's invites into Signature Events when he rejoined the PGA Tour via the Returning Member Program, and he has not made it into any of the three so far in 2026.
He recorded the first top-10 of his return at the Cognizant Classic to move up to 83rd in the FedEx Cup standings, but he remains well short of making it into the Signature Events.
Aaron Rai
Aaron Rai has not been able to qualify for the Arnold Palmer Invitational despite ranking 33rd in the world.
The Englishman finished 53rd in the FedEx Cup standings last year, three spots shy of the mark needed to make it into the big $20m events.
He did play both the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational thanks to the Aon Next 10 but will take a short break ahead of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass next week.
Marco Penge
Marco Penge had his best PGA Tour result of the season so far at the Genesis Invitational, where he ended T16th after co-leading at the halfway stage.
The three-time DP World Tour winner became a father for the second time last week and is set to return at TPC Sawgrass to make his debut at The Players after a fortnight off. Even if he wasn't at home with his new child, he wouldn't have been at Bay Hill anyway despite sitting 35th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Wyndham Clark
The 2023 US Open champion is another big name who hasn't managed to qualify for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Clark, who finished 2nd to Scottie Scheffler here in 2024, made it into the previous two Signature Events via the FedEx Cup Fall list but was not able to book his spot for Bay Hill.
Max Homa
Homa was afforded a sponsor's invite into the Genesis Invitational, understandably so after winning his hometown event in 2021.
The Californian is not in the form that saw him rise to 5th in the Official World Golf Ranking but he did finish T13th at the Cognizant Classic to give him confidence heading into TPC Sawgrass.
Tony Finau
Tony Finau also benefitted from a sponsor's invite into the Genesis Invitational, and the Utah man is another big name PGA Tour player who is not in the form of previous years.
Finau has missed three of six cuts so far in 2026 and currently ranks 101st in the world.
He is the second alternate for the tournament so has a small chance of still making it in.
Will Zalatoris
Zalatoris has been plagued by injuries over recent years and has now had two back surgeries to try and fix the issue.
The three-time Major runner-up has only played twice this year and withdrew from the Cognizant Classic last week with an issue said to be unrelated to his back.
He currently sits 252nd in the world, having been as high as 7th previously.
Arnold Palmer Invitational alternates and other notables missing:
(World ranking)
- Haotong Li - alternate (71st)
- Tony Finau - alternate (101st)
- Ricky Castillo - alternate (139th)
- Kevin Roy - alternate (135th)
- Rasmus Hojgaard - alternate (48th)
- Stephan Jaeger - alternate (108th)
- Zecheng Dou - alternate (180th)
- Jordan Smith - alternate (90th)
- Sudarshan Yellamaraju - alternate (217th)
- SH Kim - alternate (154th)
- Max Homa - alternate (148th)
- Wyndham Clark - alternate (66th)
- Zach Bauchou - alternate (173rd)
- AJ Ewart - alternate (301st)
- Max McGreevy - alternate (69th)
- Kristoffer Reitan (43rd)
- Michael Brennan (45th)
- Sami Valimaki (49th)
- Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (58th)
- John Keefer (63rd)
- Garrick Higgo (74th)
- Daniel Brown (76th)
- Rico Hoey (77th)
- John Parry (87th)
- Adrien Saddier (88th)
- Christiaan Bezuidehout (93rd)
- Matt Wallace (94th)
- Matti Schmid (96th)
- Thorbjorn Olesen (100th)
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