PALM BEACH GARDENS – In search of his fifth career PGA Tour title and first since 2015, Chris Kirk birdied final two holes of the day to claim his sixth 54-hole lead/co-lead on Tour. He is two-for-five in converting to a title.

Florida resident and PGA Tour rookie Eric Cole posted a second straight 4-under (66) and sits solo-second at 11-under (199) while 36-hole leader, Justin Suh, seeks to become the fourth player in the last five years to make The Honda Classic a maiden Tour title.

The 2022 Honda Classic runner-up, Shane Lowry, seeks his third career Tour title and first since the 2019 Open Championship. He is playing despite the unexpected death of his Uncle back in Ireland.

The Honda Classic has served as the first career Tour title for three of the last four winners (Keith Mitchell/2019, Sungjae Im/2020, Sepp Straka/2022).

Ryan Gerard sits (T-8) at (-7). He birded No. 18 to post a 1-over (71) in his second PGA Tour start (2022 U.S. Open/MC). The last Open Qualifier to finish in the Top 10 was Aaron Baddeley, 2022 Butterfield Bermuda Championship (T6), while the last Open Qualifier to finish in the Top Five was Doc Redman, 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic (2nd).

The last Open Qualifier to win was Corey Conners, at the 2019 Valero Texas Open.

Defending champion Sepp Straka sits (T-8) at (-7). He birdied his first four holes en route to a 4-under (66) in his bid to become the first to successfully defend a Honda Classic title since Jack Nicklaus in 1978.

*This final round will most likely be the final round of Honda’s association and sponsorship of the event. Honda has partnered with the PGA Tour for 42 years.

Honda Classic | Third Round Leaderboard

Chris Kirk 69-62-66—197 (-13)

Eric Cole 67-66-66—199 (-11)

Justin Suh 66-64-70—200 (-10)

Shane Lowry 68-68-65—201 (-9)

Ben Taylor 67-65-69—201 (-9)

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Note: Play was suspended due to darkness at 6:27pm (ET) Friday evening with only two players yet to complete their round. Those players will be back in position at 6:50am with the third round consisting of threesomes off one tee from approximately 7:30am – 12:30pm (ET) today.

The Cut: 78 players are currently guaranteed to make the cut, which came at 1-over (141). The two players who did not finish their round, Brett Drewitt and Pierceson Coody, are at 1-over and need a par or better on their final hole to make the cut.

By TERRY LYONS

PALM BEACH GARDENS – Following his best-ever round (64) and best opening 36-hole score (130) on the PGA Tour, Justin Suh holds a one-stroke lead over Chris Kirk at The Honda Classic as moving day begins today with two golfers still to complete their second round.

Suh is the first player with seven straight (3s) on his scorecard since the event moved to PGA National in 2007. Suh played Nos. 5-11 in 5-under. He holds a second-round lead/co-lead for the second time on the PGA Tour. The other was the 2021 Corales Puntacana Championship when he finished (T-28).

As darkness fell on Friday, Kirk equalled his career-low round on the Tour, shooting a blazing (62) while Ryan Gerard trails by two shots in bid to become the first Open Qualifier to win on Tour since 2019.

First round leaders struggled as the PGA National course toughed up Friday. Current positions of the three first-round co-leaders: Carson Young (T-10, second-round 70), Joseph Bramlett (T-28, 73), Billy Horschel (T-28, 73).

Defending champion Sepp Straka (T-22) at (-3) trails by seven strokes in bid to become the first repeat winner of The Honda Classic since Jack Nicklaus in 1977-78.

Partial Second Round Leaderboard

Justin Suh 66-64—130 (-10)

Chris Kirk 69-62—131 (-9)

Ryan Gerard 69-63—132 (-8)

Ben Taylor 67-65—132 (-8)

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PALM BEACH GARDENS – Daniel Berger tied largest 54-hole lead in Honda Classic tournament history and holds largest 54-hole lead on Tour since Jon Rahm at the 2021 Memorial Tournament. Berger is seeking his fifth career PGA Tour win and his third consecutive season with a win on Tour.

Shane Lowry posted low round of the day, at 3-under (67) and is five strokes off the lead.

There are two non-PGA Tour members in the top 20 on the leaderboard, with Monday Open Qualifier Martin Contini (T-7) and sponsor exemption Andrew Kozan (T-19). A Top-10 finish by a non-member can earn a berth into next week’s Puerto Rico Open.

With a cumulative average of +1.666 through three rounds, PGA National is playing as the hardest non-major course on Tour since the 2020 BMW Championship (Olympia Fields Country Club/North).

The Honda Classic | Leaderboard After 54 Holes

Daniel Berger 65-65-69—199 (-11)

Shane Lowry 70-67-67—204 (-6)

Sepp Straka 71-64-69—204 (-6)

Kurt Kitayama 64-69-71—204 (-6)

Chris Kirk 65-68-71—204 (-6)

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The Honda Classic | Third Round Preview

PALM BEACH GARDENS – Jupiter, Florida resident Daniel Berger opened a PGA Tour event with consecutive scores of (65) or better for just the second time (2015 BMW Championship/2nd) in his career.

Chris Kirk extended his streak of sub-par scores on Tour this season to eight in bid for fifth career Tour title and first since 2015.

As the last player to get into the field, Chase Seiffert now sits inside the top five on the leaderboard at 5-under (135).

En route to a 5-under (65), Adam Svensson became just the second player to hit all 18 greens in regulation in a round at The Honda Classic since the event moved to PGA National in 2007 (Cody Gribble/R1/2017).

First-year Tour member Kurt Kitayama (T2/-7) followed a career-low 6-under 64 in round one with a 69 in Friday’s second round; in only previous Honda Classic start, finished T47 as a sponsor exemption in 2020; best TOUR finish in 25 starts is T17/2017 Puerto Rico Open.

Following his win at last week’s Genesis Invitational, Joaquin Niemannmissed the cut with scores of 70-73—(143/+3) while defending champion Matt Jones missed the cut (73-74—(147/+7).

The 2-over (142) cut marks the just the second over-par cut of the season (Houston Open).

The Honda Classic | Leaderboard After 36 Holes

Daniel Berger 65-65—130 (-10)

Chris Kirk 65-68—133 (-7)

Kurt Kitayama 64-69—133 (-7)

Mark Hubbard 70-64—134 (-6)

Adam Svensson 69-65—134 (-6)

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PALM BEACH GARDENS – First-year PGA Tour member Kurt Kitayama carded a career-low (64) and holds his first lead/co-lead after any round on Tour. He leads by one stroke as Rory Sabbatini, Daniel Berger and Chris Kirk each shot (65) in the first-round of The Honda Classic.

Kitayama opened with three consecutive birdies (Nos. 10-12) and made a career-high four in a row, playing (Nos. 3-6). His previous career-best Tour result was a T-17 at the 2017 Puerto Rico Open. Kitayama competed at the 2020 Honda Classic on a sponsor exemption and finished T-47.

Berger played his third bogey-free round at the event, tied for second-most since it moved to PGA National in 2007. The most? Luke Donald with four.

Chris Kirk is T-2 at (-5), leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (3.620) but entered the week T-100th on Tour in that category (0.030 per round) while 2011 Honda Classic winner Rory Sabbatini is T-2 (-5). He opened with a bogey-free (65), his first bogey-free score in 37 rounds at PGA National.

The Honda Classic | Leaderboard After Round 1 (partial)

Kirt Kitayama 64 (-6)

Rory Sabbatini 65 (-5)

Daniel Berger 65 (-5)

Chris Kirk 65 (-5)

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PALM BEACH GARDENS – Beginning with today’s Honda Classic, the PGA Tour will stage the next four tournaments in Florida: 1). The Honda Classic; 2). Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (same week as the Puerto Rico Open); 3). THE PLAYERS Championship and 4). Valspar Championship.

Louis Oosthuizen – No. 122 FedEx Cup Standings and No. 13 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Oosthuizen is the highest-ranked player in the field this week. He’s recorded 13 under-par scores in his 13 rounds on Tour this season but his last Top-10 was the 2021 3M Open (T-2).

With a T-2 at last week’s Genesis Invitational, Tour rookie Cameron Youngmoved from No. 113 to No. 53 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Matt Jones is the tournament’s defending champion. Last year he shot 61 70 69 68 (268) (-12) to win by five strokes over Brandon Hagy.

Last week’s Genesis Invitational winner Joaquin Niemann met with media at The Honda Classic. The native of Chile, who lives in the Palm Beach area, was asked how long it takes him to get home from PGA National;

“Depends on the car,” he quipped.

The Honda Classic

COURSE: PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (Champion Course)

ARCHITECT: Tom Fazio

YARDS/PAR: 7,125 yards/Par 70

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $8,000,000/$1.440,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Matt Jones

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @TheHondaClassic

TV COVERAGE: First two rounds (today and Feb 25) are scheduled for coverage from 2:00pm to 6:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel. Then, Saturday and Sunday, coverage is set for 1:00pm to 3:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel and 3:00 to 6:00pm (ET) on NBC.

PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING on ESPN+: Streaming coverage will be featured on ESPN-Plus today and Friday with Main Feed, Featured Hole and Featured Groups from 6:45am to 6:00pm (ET). Weekend times TBA, depending on tee times.

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live radio coverage of The Honda Classic with today’s and Friday’s broadcasts from 12:00pm to 6:00pm (ET). Saturday coverage on Sirius XM Radio runs from 1:00pm to 6:00pm and Sunday from 1:00 to 6:00pm (ET). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92 or online via PGATourCom.

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