The First Look: The Honda Classic

The PGA TOUR heads to the Sunshine State for The Honda Classic, the first event of the Florida Swing. Matt Jones’ win in last year’s Honda was his first win in seven years. He returns to defend, while South Florida locals Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger top the list of notables in the field.

FIELD NOTES: Daniel Berger is looking for a return to form at PGA National. He finished T4 in 2020 and was runner-up as a TOUR rookie in 2015… Brooks Koepka is set to return. He finished second here in 2016. Koepka’s brother, Chase, was given a sponsor exemption… Twenty-year-old Nicolai Hojgaard, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, including earlier in February, also is among the sponsor exemptions. He’s making his PGA TOUR debut… In total, 12 of the top 50 golfers in the OWGR are in the field at PGA National, led by Louis Oosthuizen at No. 13… Matt Jones looks to defend his Honda Classic title, while other recent winners at PGA National including Sungjae Im, Keith Mitchell, Padraig Harrington, and Rickie Fowler are all set to tee it up… Joaquin Niemann, who set the 36-hole scoring record at The Genesis Invitational, is scheduled to join The Honda Classic field.

COURSE: PGA National (Champion), par 70, 7,125 yards. The Tom Fazio design – re-worked by Jack Nicklaus in 1990 and 2014 – has hosted each Honda Classic since 2007. The course has long been known as one of the toughest the PGA TOUR plays each year thanks in large part to The Bear Trap (Nos. 15-17), a watery stretch that can often make or break a round. It played a combined 230 over par last season, and 1,604 balls have found the water in The Bear Trap since 2007.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

STORYLINES: Ryan Palmer has the dubious honour of dunking the most balls in the water in The Bear Trap, with 17 since 2007. He’s played The Bear Trap at 40 over par in his career, the worst of any golfer on TOUR since 2007. On the other end of the spectrum is Russell Knox, who is 6 under in his career at The Bear Trap – the best of any TOUR player… We’ll see plenty of European Ryder Cuppers make their first PGA TOUR starts of the calendar year at The Honda Classic, including Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Shane Lowry, and Danny Willett. They all haven’t played on TOUR since last fall… The Monday qualifier offers four spots to guys looking to play The Honda Classic, and with how much star power lives in the Palm Beach Gardens area it’s always one of the most competitive of the season… There has been only one repeat winner of The Honda Classic in tournament history – Jack Nicklaus in 1977-78… Honda is the longest running continuous title sponsor on the PGA TOUR… Only 10,000 spectators per day were allowed last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but tournament organizers are expecting full crowds this time around… New for 2022: A “double-deck” structure on the par-3 17th, the closing hole of The Bear Strap. It’ll make a difficult hole that much more challenging with the number of people packed in to watch.

72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Justin Leonard (2003 at Mirasol). PGA National record: 267, Camilo Villegas (2010).

18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Brian Harman (2nd round, 2012), Matt Jones (1st round, 2021)

LAST TIME: Australian Matt Jones rode a course record-tying opening round to a five-shot victory – his second career TOUR title, and first since 2014. Jones fired a 2-under 68 in the final round to finish at 12 under for the week. The five-shot margin of victory tied for the largest in tournament history (Jack Nicklaus, 1977 and Camilo Villegas, 2010). Brandon Hagy finished second on his 30th birthday for his best TOUR finish. Hagy rallied on Sunday to shoot a 66 after a 76 on Saturday saw him tumble down the leaderboard. Chase Seiffert, Brendan Steele, Denny McCarthy, Russell Henley, and C.T. Pan all finished tied for third.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC)

Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12–6 p.m. ET. Saturday, 1–6 p.m. Sunday, 1-6:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio)

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