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PGA Tour: The Honda Classic Review

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The Honda Classic: Review and Notes

THE YEAR of the 40s: Matt Jones won his second PGA Tour title in his 330th start and became the fourth winner in his 40s this season. He also became the sixth player this season to win more than six years after his previous victory.

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Jones converted his 54-hole lead/co-lead for first time on Tour, and finished with a five-stroke win which ties the largest margin of victory in tournament history.

Brandon Hagy earned his best career PGA Tour result on his 30th birthday, and in doing so, he moved up 101 spots in the FedExCup standings.

Sam Ryder played the famed “Bear Trap” in 3-under for the week, the best of any player who made the cut.

Chase Seiffert (T-3) at (-6) closed with 6-under (64), matching his career low (64/R4) at the 2018 Travelers Championship). He moved from T-41 to T-3 and carded his fourth score of 65 or better this season.

Brendan Steele (T-3) at (-6) recorded his second consecutive top-10 result at The Honda Classic (T-4) in 2020 and has five Top 15 finishes in last six starts at The Honda Classic.

The Honda Classic – Final Leaderboard

Matt Jones 61-70-69-68—268 (-12)

Brandon Hagy 69-62-76-66—273 (-7)

Five players at (-6)

Full Leaderboard (link)

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Final Round Coverage of Honda Classic

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA – For the second time this week, Matt Jones holds an overnight lead of three strokes as 36-hole leader Aaron Wise fell three shots behind in a bid for second PGA Tour win. Jones ranks No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (12.289) and second in the field in Strokes Gained Around the Green (5.716).

J.B. Holmes is making his seventh appearance at The Honda Classic and he started the third round eight-shots off the lead but posted a 3-under (67) on “Moving Day” and is now T-2 with Wise. Holmes is paired with Matt Jones in the final twosome.

Making his second start at The Honda Classic (T-53 in 2020), Winter Park, Florida, native Sam Ryder (T-4) at (-6) is in contention to claim his first career PGA Tour victory in his 90th start.

Following his shoulder injury, The Honda Classic marks the final event remaining for Camilo Villegas (T-13) at (-4) to earn 136 FedExCup points (3-way T-3 or better) and remain in the Major Medical category or 24 FedExCup points (2-way T-32 or better) to play the remainder of the season out of the 126-150 category.

PGA Tour: R-3 Preview of Honda Classic

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PALM BEACH GARDENS – Aaron Wise holds a 36-hole lead/co-lead for first time in his 88th TOUR start. Wise’ 12-under 128 marks low 36-hole tournament score since the event moved to PGA National in 2007 (129/Rory McIlroy/2014) and ties tournament record (Dan Pohl/1989). The (-12)-(128) also matches Wise’s career low 36-hole score.

Wise became the first player with multiple (64s) or better in the same week at The Honda Classic since the event moved to PGA National (Champion) in 2007.

First round leader Matt Jones (T2) at (-9) ranked 133rd in proximity to the hole (44 feet, 2 inches) in the second round after ranking No. 2 (25 feet, 6 inches) in R-1.

Brandon Hagy entered the field as second-to-last alternate on Wednesday when Kramer Hickok withdrew from the tournament. Hagy sits (T-2) (69-62) – (131) with Jones (61-70) – (131).

In 90th start on Tour, Sam Ryder (4th/-8) seeks his first pro victory. His (63) marked his lowest score on Tour since 2018 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (62)-(R4). He shot four rounds in the 70s to finish T-53 in this event last year, his only prior appearance. Ryder’s best finish among eight career top-10s is T-2/2018 John Deere Classic; T-10/Farmers Insurance Open.

With a pair of (68s), defending The Honda Classic champion Sungjae Im sits T16 in his bid to join Jack Nicklaus (1977-78) as players to successfully defend their title in the event.

The 36-Hole Cut allowed for 68 players at (1-over)-(141) from a field of 144 professionals.

PGA Tour Brunch Coverage of The Honda Classic

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA – Matt Jones took advantage of his 7:36am EDT tee-time and proceeded to tie a PGA National (Champion Course) record, shooting a career-low (61). He leads Aaron Wise and Honda Classic champion Russell Henley by three stokes after the opening round. Jones matched the record (61) by Brian Harman in at PGA National in 2012. The three-stroke opening round lead is the biggest first round lead since 1967.

Windy conditions challenged the field most of the morning and afternoon.

This is the 15th time The Honda Classic is being played at PGA National. In that time period, no first-round leader on this course has won the tournament. Across all courses for the Honda, the last first-round leader to win the Classic was Justin Leonard in 2003 at Mirasol.

Russell Henley opened with (64) to match his lowest 18-hole score in the event. He opened with (64) en route to winning The Honda Classic in 2014.

In bid to join Jack Nicklaus as players to successfully defend a Honda Classic title, Sungjae Im opened with (70).

PGA National features “The Bear Trap” at (Nos. 15-17) a stretch of land that ranks as the fourth-toughest three-hole stretch on Tour since 2007 (among courses played in at least 10 seasons, non-majors).

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Honda Classic Tee Times today at 7:25am (EDT/local) through 2:21pm (EDT/local). (link)

Weather for Today: Friday weather calls for a chance of Showers and T-Storms, 50% chance of rain but windy again (15-20 mph with gusts to 30 mph). Similar forecast for the weekend, with showers and windy conditions.

PGATourBrunch will be serving an early “BRUNCH” and posting at 8:00am EDT Saturday-Sunday.

Next Week: World Golf Championship – Dell Technologies Match Playand the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club in Dominican Republic.

Leaderboard After Round One at The Honda

Matt Jones 61 (-9)

Aaron Wise 64 (-6)

Russell Henley 64 (-6)

Five players 66 (-4)

PGA Tour: Preview for Round-1 at Honda

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PALM BEACH GARDENS – After missing The Honda Classic Pro-Am on Wednesday, March 17, but indicating he would play in the tournament, Daniel Berger, the favorite and second-highest ranked player scheduled to compete, WD from The Honda Classic yesterday.

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Only six of the top 30 Tour players in the FedExCup standings are in the field this week, led by Joaquin Niemann (No. 12).

The field does include 11 past champions: Vijay Singh (1999), Padraig Harrington (2005, 2015), Luke Donald (2006), Camilo Villegas (2010), Rory Sabbatini (2011), Michael Thompson (2013), Russell Henley (2014), Adam Scott (2016), Rickie Fowler (2017), Keith Mitchell (2019) and Sungjae Im (2020).

Lee Westwood, runner-up the last two weeks, made the biggest jump in the FedExCup during the tour’s “Florida Swing,” beginning at the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession (131 spots) to tee-off at The Honda.

Honda Classic defending champion Sungjae Im enters his title defense in the tournament in the top 20 in both the FedExCup and Official World Golf Ranking.

PGA National features “The Bear Trap” at (Nos. 15-17) a stretch of land that ranks as the fourth-toughest three-hole stretch on Tour since 2007 (among courses played in at least 10 seasons, non-majors).

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First Look at Honda Classic

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First Look at The Honda Classic – ☘️

The Honda Classic was once one of the biggest draws for top players readying for The Masters. In the current schedule, it falls between The PLAYERS and the World Golf Championship – Dell Technology Match Play tournaments.

Daniel Berger is the highest-ranked player at No. 15. … Berger skipped the Pro-Am but plans to compete Thursday, according to the Palm Beach Post. Brooks Koepka was scheduled to play until injuring his right knee. The only Koepka in the field is his younger brother, Chase, who received a sponsor exemption.

Five former No. 1 players in the world are competing at the Honda Classic, including: Adam Scott, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Vijay Singh. … Both Ryder Cup captains, Steve Stricker (USA) and Padraig Harrington (Europe), are playing this event on the PGA Tour’s “Florida Swing.”

Westwood – a disappointing second place finisher at The PLAYERS last weekend, following his efforts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, is the first player to be the runner-up in consecutive weeks since Webb Simpson at the Wyndham Championship and The Northern Trust in August 2019.

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The PLAYERS Championship: Review and Notes

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – With scores of 64-68 in the final two rounds, Justin Thomas tied the tournament record for closing 36-hole score (132) to win the 2021 PLAYERS Championship by one stroke over Lee Westwood.

Westwood became the first player to finish solo-second in consecutive PGA Tour events since Webb Simpson in 2019. (2019 World Golf Championships/FedEx St. Jude Invitational and Wyndham Championship). Westwood entered the Florida Swing (beginning at the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession) at No. 153 in the FedExCup standings and now ranks 22nd after The PLAYERS.

Thomas tied The PLAYERS Championship record for lowest closing 36-hole score (132), joining Fred Couples and Rocco Mediate, 1996).

Thomas became the fourth player since 1960 to win 14 times on the PGA Tour before turning 28, joining Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller.

The low final-round score was 6-under (66), shot by four players: Corey Conners (7th), Charles Howell III (T-9), Sungjae Im (T-17) and Collin Morikawa (T-41)

We’ll Be Back! – The next issue of PGA Tour Brunch will be sent to your inbox at Noon on St. Patrick’s Day ☘️ Wednesday, March 17th.

PLAYERS Final Leaderboard

Justin Thomas 71-71-64-68—274 (-14)

Lee Westwood 69-66-68-72—275 (-13)

Brian Harman 67-71-69-69—276 (-12)

Bryson DeChambeau 69-69-67-71—276 (-12)

Talor Gooch 71-68-71-67—277 (-11)

Paul Casey 73-67-67-70—277 (-11)

The Players Championship – Third Round Preview

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By TERRY LYONS

Note: The second round was suspended due to darkness at 6:36pm ET with only eight players left on the course. Those eight will resume at 7am ET Saturday.

Third-round tee times will go off the No. 1 tee in twosomes, approximately 7:55am ET to 2pm ET.

Tournament Notes

Lee Westwood leads for the second time in the last four rounds on Tour following his 54 hole performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. England’s Westwood (1st) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (2nd) top the leaderboard after the second round; with 15 different international winners of The Players Championship, noting no player from England has ever won the event.

Chris Kirk (T-3) shot his career-low round at The Players with a 7-under (65), his seventh round in the 60s in his 33rd tournament round here.

Bryson DeChambeau (T-5) seeks to become the fourth player to win The Players after winning the week prior (most recent: Tiger Woods/2001 Arnold Palmer Invitational).

Five players who finished in the top 10 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational are in the top 10 after round two: Lee Westwood, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Chris Kirk, Bryson DeChambeau, Charley Hoffman.

Rory McIlroy becomes the first defending champion to miss the cut the following year since Rickie Fowler in 2016. Other notables to mTC included: Tyrrell Hatton, Ian Poulter, Scottie Scheffler, Bubba Watson, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Webb Simpson, Max Homa, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, and Ricky Fowler.

The Players Championship 2021 – R-1 Review/R-2 Preview

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The Players Championship 2021 – R-1 Review/Preview

Note: The first round was suspended due to darkness at 6:32 p.m. ET with 21 players left on the course and will resume at 7:30 a.m. Friday. The early Round Tee Times will go as planned (they started at 6:45am).

The 2008 Players Championship winner Sergio Garcia made two eagles and held a two-stroke lead, after partial completion of Round One. His (65) was a tournament record 25th round in the 60s.

Brian Harman stands in solo-second after a (67) that included four consecutive birdies on Nos. 9-12.

Matthew Fitzpatrick (T-3) at (-4) posted his second sub-70 score in 13 rounds at The Players (first: 69, R-1/2016).

FedExCup leader Bryson DeChambeau opened with a 3-under (69), his eighth under-par score in nine rounds at the event. DeChambeau is the only player to win multiple tournaments during the 2020-21 season (U.S. Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational).

Reigning FedExCup champion and World No. 1 Dustin Johnson recorded a 1-over (73) and stands T-60.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy recorded a (79), tying the second-highest opening round score of his PGA Tour career.

Coincidentally, the player in first place (Sergio Garcia) and in last place (Henrik Stenson) won The Players back-to-back in 2008 and 2009.

(Partial) First Round Leaderboard

Sergio Garcia 65 (-7)

Brian Harman 67 (-5)

Matthew Fitzpatrick 68 (-4)

Corey Conners 68 (-4)

Shane Lowry 68 (-4)

The first round was suspended due to darkness at 6:32 p.m. ET with 21 players left on the course and will resume at 7:30 a.m. Friday. The second round will begin as scheduled at 6:45 a.m.

Opening Round at The PLAYERS

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The Players Championship 2021 – Opening Round

From 2007 to 2018, The Players Championship was staged in the month of May. The tournament has been played at Ponte Vedra Beach ever since 1977. From 2011-to-2014, the winning scorecard read (275) each year as KJ Choi (2011), Matt Kuchar (2012), Tiger Woods (2013) and Martin Kaymer(2014) all hit the winner’s circle with that magic score.

Golf Channel noted: The past five winners (and 11 of the last 13) have been in the early-late wave (Thur-Fri) to begin The Players. Some of the most intriguing guys in that group this year: Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Webb Simpson, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Tyrrell Hatton, Tony Finau, Lee Westwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and Scottie Scheffler.

The Top 10 Career Money Winners at The Players: (events) (money)

1. Sergio Garcia (20) – $5,466,153.43

2. Tiger Woods (19) – $4,724,366.90

3. Jim Furyk (23) – $4,081,763.72

4. Adam Scott (18) – $3,507,107.62

5. Rory McIlroy (10) – $3,333,787.50

6. Henrik Stenson (14) – $3,305,908.93

7. Matt Kuchar (15) – $3,097,894.27

8. Jason Day (9) $3,075,269.29

9. Phil Mickelson (26) $2,900,485.65

10. Stephen Ames (13) $2,781,333.34

The 2021 Players Championship marks the one-year anniversary since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most of the USA 9and world), sports and professional golf for a solid three months. Hideki Matsuyama tied the course record with a (63) before the tournament was called-off last spring.

Rory McIlroy was nine strokes behind Matsuyama when the tournament was cancelled after the first round last year as the coronvarius pandemic gripped the world. “I think I feel a bit better about that than Hideki does,” joked McIlroy when asked on Tuesday (March 9) about not chasing nine shots to defend his title this year. McIlroy enters The Players Championship with consecutive top 10 finishes.

Last spring, Harris English, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Si Woo Kimwere T-2 behind Matsuyama after R-1 (65s). Keegan Bradley and Tommy Fleetwood were the first round leaders in 2019.

#DriveOutHunger – Five-time PGA Tour winner, 2014 FedExCup champion and Ponte Vedra Beach resident Billy Horschel once again will host his #DriveOutHunger campaign to help feed the people of Northeast Florida. He will donate $1000 for every birdie and $5000 for every eagle that he makes during THE Players to the fund.