Hey everyone, it’s your boy back again with another deep dive into my latest obsession. So, I’ve always been a huge golf fan, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational is one of those tournaments I just can’t miss. This year, I got it in my head to really dig into the history of the winners. You know, not just who won, but like, the whole story behind it. So I started this little project, and let me tell you, it turned into a way bigger thing than I expected.
First things first, I needed to get my hands on a list of past winners. I mean, I know some of the big names, but I wanted the whole shebang, from way back when to now. So I hit up the internet, started with a simple Google search, just typed in “Arnold Palmer Invitational past winners.”
The first few results were pretty much what I was looking for. Wikipedia had a decent list, year by year, with the winner’s name and their score. It was a good starting point, but a little bare-bones for my taste. Another one is a sports site, * was like a goldmine of statistics. They had all the results archived, going back years. You know, all kinds of different tournaments, but I was able to filter it down to just the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
So, with those two, I started putting together a spreadsheet. Nothing fancy, just a simple table with the year, the winner, and their score to par. But then I stumbled upon this other site, can’t recall the name, that was all about historical leaderboards and “strokes gained,” which, if you’re not into golf, is basically a way to measure how well a player performed compared to the average. That got me thinking about adding more details to my little project.
Then, I started digging into the stories behind the wins. Like, did you know that Arnold Palmer himself won the first time back in the 1970s? And that he won the Masters four times? There was even a story about him losing the 1968 PGA Championship by just one stroke – ouch! There’s so much history there. Also, I found that back in 1975, Palmer became the owner of Bay Hill, which later became the venue for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
I also started watching some old tournament footage. Man, the game has changed so much over the years! It’s not just the equipment, but the whole style of play. Seeing those old-timers swing, it’s like a whole different world compared to the power game you see today.
And here are some famous winners:
- 2024: Scottie Scheffler (-15)
- 2023: Kurt Kitayama (-9)
- 2022: Scottie Scheffler (-5)
- 2021: Bryson DeChambeau (-11)
Anyway, this whole thing has become like a passion project for me. I’m still adding to it, digging up old articles, and watching old footage. It’s amazing how much you can learn when you really dive into something, even something as simple as a list of tournament winners. It’s not just about the names, it’s about the stories, the struggles, the triumphs. It’s about the history of the game itself.
So yeah, that’s what I’ve been up to lately. It’s been a fun ride, and I’m still not done. Who knows where this little project will take me next? Maybe I’ll even turn it into a blog or something. Stay tuned, folks, there might be more to come!
