Cut prediction: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard

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SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Peter Malnati saw his infant son at a PGA TOUR event for the first time since the pandemic, which brought a smile to his face and another birdie on his card for an 8-under 63 and a one-shot lead Thursday in the Bermuda Championship. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Ghim taking advantage of second chance The tournament is the first to allow limited fans — no more than 500 a day at Port Royal — since the opening round of THE PLAYERS Championship on March 12. The final birdie was the ninth of the round for Malnati, who has gone from the South to the West to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and keeps playing some of his best golf. It was the third time in his last three events he posted a 63 or lower. Malnati was runner-up at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi and followed that with a tie for fifth at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. This round gave him a one-shot lead over Ryan Armour and Doug Ghim, who birdied his last two holes. "With everything in the world right now — and this island is doing a phenomenal job with their testing protocol and keeping everyone safe — I just didn’t know if it was actually going to work for them to get out here," Malnati said of about his wife and 1-year-old son. “So coming off that disappointing bogey on 17, I hit a nice drive on 18 and before I even get my yardage or anything, I see my wife and boy standing out there. "It just brought a huge smile to my face," he said. "To see them and then to finish with that birdie, I’m a happy man." Malnati ran off five straight birdies starting with No. 9, and he was looking to finish strong. Among the shorter hitters in the modern power game, he had made up his mind to take on the bunkers down the right side of the par-5 17th hole and turn it into an easy birdie. Instead, he turned it left into the water for a penalty stroke and made bogey. "So that stunk," he said. "But how can I complain about much? We’re on the island of Bermuda and I sure played great." The Bermuda Championship receives full status this year because the HSBC Champions in Shanghai was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning Bermuda is not the same week as a World Golf Championships event. The winner receives an invitation to the Masters Tournament next year. It also is the start of consecutive PGA TOUR events allowing limited fans. The Houston Open has said it will sell no more than 2,000 tickets a day. The Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, the first event of 2021, also announced this week it would have limited fans. Doc Redman, Vaughn Taylor and Chase Seiffert were at 65, while Hunter Mahan was in the group at 66. It was Mahan’s lowest opening round in more than two years. Three-time major champion and Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington opened with a 67. Harrington won at Port Royal in 2013 in the final stages of the course hosting the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Fred Funk, the 64-year-old regular on the PGA TOUR Champions, shot 69. He played in the same group as his son, Taylor Funk, who shot a 73.

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The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. Wells Fargo Championship field list as of Friday, April 29th at 5 p.m. ET: Check here for updates. Winner of U.S. Open Championship (five-year exemption) Gary Woodland Winner of THE PLAYERS Championship (five-year exemption) Jason Day Si Woo Kim Rory McIlroy Webb Simpson Winner of Masters Tournament (five-year exemption) Sergio Garcia Patrick Reed Winner of The Open (five-year exemption) Francesco Molinari Winner of World Golf Championships event (three-year exemption) Abraham Ancer Winner of Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial Tournament and Genesis Invitational (three-year exemption) Tyrrell Hatton Max Homa PGA TOUR tournament winner (two-year exemption) Paul Casey Stewart Cink Corey Conners Joel Dahmen Cam Davis Tyler Duncan Tony Finau Rickie Fowler Dylan Frittelli Lucas Glover Branden Grace Lanto Griffin Jim Herman Matt Jones Sung Kang Matt Kuchar Martin Laird Nate Lashley K.H. Lee Marc Leishman Luke List Adam Long Keith Mitchell C.T. Pan J.T. Poston Seamus Power Chad Ramey Chez Reavie Sepp Straka Nick Taylor Michael Thompson Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Erik van Rooyen Richy Werenski Matthew Wolff Career money exemption Luke Donald Bill Haas Rory Sabbatini Nick Watney * Sponsor’s exemption (Korn Ferry Tour Finals) Jacob Bridgeman Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra Sponsor’s exemption (members not otherwise exempt) Wesley Bryan Johnson Wagner Sponsor’s exemption (unrestricted) Ben Martin Brandon Matthews Gregory Odom, Jr. PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year. Larkin Gross Past Champion of Wells Fargo Championship Brian Harman Top 125 on prior season’s FedExCup Charley Hoffman Keegan Bradley Charl Schwartzel Russell Henley Jhonattan Vegas Kevin Streelman Harry Higgs Mackenzie Hughes Matt Fitzpatrick Troy Merritt Pat Perez Andrew Putnam Doug Ghim Brandon Hagy Peter Malnati Adam Schenk Kramer Hickok Brian Stuard Henrik Norlander Doc Redman Roger Sloan Hank Lebioda Denny McCarthy Brendan Steele James Hahn Zach Johnson Russell Knox Matt Wallace Sam Ryder Matthew NeSmith Scott Piercy Anirban Lahiri Brice Garnett Chesson Hadley # Major medical extension Danny Lee William McGirt Morgan Hoffmann Seung-Yul Noh Jonas Blixt Korn Ferry Tour Points winners (The 25 and The Finals 25) Stephan Jaeger Joseph Bramlett Three-Victory Promotion via Korn Ferry Tour Mito Pereira Korn Ferry Tour graduates via The 25 and The Finals 25 (reshuffled) Cameron Young Davis Riley Alex Smalley Hayden Buckley Lee Hodges Matthias Schwab Aaron Rai Taylor Moore Max McGreevy Vince Whaley Adam Svensson Kurt Kitayama David Lipsky Greyson Sigg John Huh Trey Mullinax Brandon Wu Austin Smotherman Andrew Novak Curtis Thompson Paul Barjon Seth Reeves Justin Lower Dylan Wu Ben Kohles Austin Cook Callum Tarren Nick Hardy Scott Gutschewski Jared Wolfe Kelly Kraft Peter Uihlein David Skinns Michael Gligic Kiradech Aphibarnrat Dawie van der Walt Brett Drewitt Joshua Creel Nos. 126-150 on prior season’s FedExCup Points List (reshuffled) Beau Hossler Mark Hubbard Cameron Percy Vaughn Taylor Ryan Armour Chase Seiffert Satoshi Kodaira Jim Knous Camilo Villegas Bo Van Pelt Bo Hoag The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. * = If all prior year Korn Ferry Tour graduates are eligible for event, exemptions become unrestricted # = Latest medical extension information can be found here. $ = Category breakdown can be found here.

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