After a lengthy rain delay forced the PGA Tour into a Monday finish for the Cognizant Classic won by Austin Eckroat, the PGA Tour's best players make the trek upstate to Bay Hill Club & Lodge outside of Orlando. A field of 69 golfers will compete for a $20 million purse in this Signature Event on a very difficult golf course. This par-72 course plays at more than 7,400 yards and features many long iron shots, thick rough, and water in play on nine holes. The first tee times come at 7:45 a.m. ET on Thursday.

The 2022 champion of this event, Scottie Scheffler is the pre-tournament favorite at +650, followed by 2018 champion Rory McIlory (+850), Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland (+1200), and Patrick Cantlay at +1400.

With a competitive field at this week's PGA Tour Signature Event, who can you trust for your Arnold Palmer Invitational Fantasy golf picks? Before you set your 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational golf lineups or make any PGA Tour bets, you NEED to see the Fantasy golf rankings from Fantasy expert Eric Cohen.

Cohen is an avid golf bettor who correctly predicted the pre-tournament outright winner of the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic (Rickie Fowler +1400), 2023 PGA Championship (Brooks Koepka +2000), 2023 Honda Classic (Chris Kirk +3500), 2022 Open Championship (Cameron Smith +2200), 2022 U.S. Open (Matt Fitzpatrick +2500), and 2022 Phoenix Open (Scottie Scheffler's first career victory at +2800). 

Eric is a contributor to SportsLine's YouTube shows including "Early Edge" and is the host of "The Early Wedge" golf show (live on Tuesday, 3/5 at 7:00 p.m. ET). Anyone who has followed Cohen's predictions has made positive gains on their golf picks.

Now, Cohen has studied the field set to play outside of Orlando and revealed his Arnold Palmer Invitational Fantasy golf rankings. 

We can tell you he is backing Will Zalatoris, who is coming off a T2 finish in his last outing and enters at +3000 odds. "It's safe to say that the elite version of Zalatoris is back after nearly a year and a half spent struggling with back issues. If not for an incredible performance by Hideki Matsuyama at Riviera, Zalatoris very well could have won the event, having gained strokes in all major categories for the second consecutive event."

On the other hand, Cohen is fading Cantlay at odds of +1400 and says he barely cracks the top-10. "Is it wrong that I'm a little gun shy on Cantlay after his weekend disappointment at the Genesis Invitational? Outside of Riviera, he has struggled recently around the greens, which is concerning considering the tricky green complexes at Bay Hill."

Cohen also is backing several underdogs in his 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational Fantasy golf picks, including a HUGE triple-digit longshot who has a surprising amount of success at this course! If this player can pull off a stunning result, it would bring a HUGE payoff and be a valuable piece for Arnold Palmer Invitational Fantasy golf lineups. You ABSOLUTELY need to see who it is before locking in any fantasy golf picks.

Who wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and which triple-digit longshot could bring a HUGE difference and be the difference for your Fantasy golf picks? Join SportsLine now to get Eric Cohen's Fantasy golf rankings and picks for the Cognizant Classic, all from the Fantasy expert who has delivered a positive ROI with his golf picks!