Written by Stephen Moloney (www.twitter.com/TheCheeky9)
Like him or loathe him, for Patrick Reed – in the wake of comments made by Brooks Koepka & Peter Kostis regarding that incident in the Bahamas & his alleged conduct on the course – to go into the tricky Club de Golf Chapultepec and beat one of the deepest fields of the year so far to capture the Gene Sarazen Cup for the second time in his career (the first coming all the way back in 2014 at Doral), should earn him a lot of credit … but chances are it probably won’t.
Because the fact is “disliking Patrick Reed” has now become such a performative act and almost a meme in itself through which people on social media can hoover up easy ‘likes’ and retweets’ (or perhaps even reach the gold standard of having him block you on Twitter) his victory in Mexico will be, for the most part, disgruntledly ignored and people will go back to trying to find another “digging” GIF for the next time Reed finds himself in a bunker.
Now, don’t get me wrong, was what Reed did in the Bahamas wrong? Absolutely. 100%. No question. But what happened in that bunker will soon be coming on three full months ago. Like, at this stage, if Reed annoys you so much, would it not be a whole lot easier – and take up far less mental energy – to just ignore him, no? I mean, from personal experience, I’ve found a strong sense of ‘apathy’ towards most things requires very little, to no effort whatsoever.
Anyway, though, with Mexico City now firmly in the rear-view mirror, it’s all eyes on Florida as we enter an incredibly busy (and lucrative) time in the PGA Tour season as the Honda Classic, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players all come one after the other in a dizzying three week spell that will see the best golfers in the world battling it out for a share of the $31.3 million that will be up for grabs across the three tournaments.
Now, will those tournaments be the same without Antonio Rosique, the first tee announcer for the WGC-Mexico Championship who can legitimately pull off wearing a cravat and aviator sunglasses?
No, but, regardless, we have to put on our bravest faces and persevere.
It’s what Antonio would want.
Field Report
Whenever you see a string of prestigious tournaments (with hefty purses to match) all coming together in one solid block like we’re about to see over the next three weeks, chances are there’s going to be some fluctuations in the fields as golfers try to manage their energy levels. When those three tournaments are coming fresh off the back of a WGC and culminating with the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players going back-to-back, however, those ‘fluctuations’ are all but guaranteed to be seen primarily in the field of that one remaining tournament – and, in this instance, that means this week’s Honda Classic.
However, though this week will only see eight players from the current top 30 in the world rankings teeing it up in Florida – including but one solitary player from the top 10 – it’s an octet with enough familiarity of the winner’s circle that it’s not too much of a stretch to consider any one of them as potential winners this week: Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Gary Woodland, Louis Oosthuizen, Shane Lowry, Rickie Fowler and Lee Westwood.
Having made the short journey from Puerto Rico to Florida, last weekend’s other winner, Viktor Hovland, will be at the Honda this week, along with all but one of the twelve players who made up the top 10 and ties behind him – a gathering which, most notably, includes the like of Kyle Stanley, Emiliano Grillo and Jhonattan Vegas.
After his excellent third place finish in Mexico, South Africa’s Erik Van Rooyen will be looking to see if he can keep the form he showed last week going in Florida and further help his cause to secure membership of some description on the PGA Tour. And then, finally, after their performances in Melbourne very nearly helped Ernie Els topple Tiger’s American team, Presidents Cup teammates Sungjae Im, Byeong Hun An, C.T. Pan and Joaquín Niemann all join their fellow teammate, Louis Oosthuizen, in Florida for the Honda and a possible reunion to boot.
The Yardage Book
(i) Below you will find the scorecard for the Champion Course at PGA National. For each hole I’ve listed its par; what shape best suits it; and its scoring average.
| Front 9 | PGA National Resort & Spa (Champion Course) | Back 9 |
| #1: Par 4 – Fade – 3.893 | Palm Beach Gardens, Florida | #10: Par 4 – Fade – 4.201 |
| #2: Par 4 – Draw – 4.112 | 7,125 yards | #11: Par 4 – Either – 4.226 |
| #3: Par 5 – Either – 4.619 | #12: Par 4 – Either – 4.105 | |
| #4: Par 4 – Draw – 4.014 | #13: Par 4 – Draw – 3.861 | |
| #5: Par 3 – Draw – 3.183 | #14: Par 4 – Fade – 4.192 | |
| #6: Par 4 – Draw – 4.370 | #15: Par 3 – Fade – 3.171 | |
| #7: Par 3 – Fade – 3.144 | #16: Par 4 – Either – 4.057 | |
| #8: Par 4 – Fade – 4.000 | #17: Par 3 – Either – 3.091 | |
| #9: Par 4 – Draw – 4.048 | #18: Par 5 – Either – 4.731 | |
| Out: 35 | Par 70 | In: 35 |
(ii) As we hear every single year when we enter the ‘Florida Swing’, the Jack Nicklaus redesigned Champion Course at PGA National is regularly ranked as one of the most difficult courses golfers will face all season. Why is this? Well, you look to the obvious factors like the length of some of the holes, the water hazards, the fact that there’s always wind of some description to contend with and plenrty rough/trees to take you out of a hole if you misjudge said ‘winds’. However, having had an opportunity to look at each of the holes which make up the Champion Course – including the infamous stretch from 15 to 17 known as “The Bear Trap” – I think what makes it such a challenge is that practically every hole asks a different question of your game and then doesn’t you afford a means by which to bail out – so, basically, it’s like the course is going, “Can you hit this kind of shot? No? Aw, that’s too bad, I guess you’re making bogey so.”
(iii) Thanks to a three week period that’s seen the PGA Tour take in Pebble Beach, Riviera and Club de Golf Chapultepec, we’ve learned that when you get greens with a good bit of break in them firmed up and running quick – thus putting a premium on hitting the fairway off the tee – that single move can cause modern tour professionals enough problems where, at a time when we’re questioning how far the golf ball is travelling, you almost feel insane for considering the answer may be as simple as, “Well … let’s just use less water on the greens, maybe?”
With the tour heading to the east coast, however, whilst I expect the greens to still be running quite quickly, you’d have to think there’ll be a bit more “give” in them as the general weather conditions they have there tends to see their courses being a touch on the softer side – and with rain expected for Wednesday night and possibly early on Thursday, I’d imagine that will most definitely be the case for the first two days, at least. In terms of wind? It’ll be the usual breezy conditions for Thursday and Friday with a chance that it could pick up a bit over the weekend. When you couple that wind with the fact temperatures look set to increase steadily over the four days from the high teens to low 20’s, however, that – along with whatever dastardly subterranean machines they might set to work once it goes dark – might just be enough to see the greens firming up come Sunday afternoon and the “Bear Trap” snare its fair share of victims.
(iv) Below is the final top 10 and ties for the last four years of the Honda Classic at PGA National.
| 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Keith Mitchell -9 | Justin Thomas -8 | Rickie Fowler -12 | Adam Scott -9 |
| Rickie Fowler -8 | Luke List -8 | Morgan Hoffman -8 | Sergio Garcia -8 |
| Brooks Koepka -8 | Alex Noren -7 | Gary Woodland -8 | Blayne Barber -5 |
| Lucas Glover -7 | Tommy Fleetwood -6 | Wesley Bryan -7 | Justin Thomas -5 |
| Ryan Palmer -7 | Byeong Hun An -4 | Chad Collins -7 | Graeme McDowell -4 |
| Vijay Singh -6 | Webb Simpson -4 | Tyrrell Hatton -7 | Rickie Fowler -3 |
| Wyndham Clark -5 | Jamie Lovemark -3 | Billy Horschel -7 | Vijay Singh -3 |
| Kyoung-Hoon Lee -5 | Sam Burns -2 | Martin Kaymer -7 | Billy Horschel -2 |
| Jim Furyk -4 | Emiliano Grillo -2 | Jhonattan Vegas -7 | William McGirt -2 |
| Sergio Garcia -4 | Kelly Kraft -2 | Graham DeLaet -6 | Scott Brown -1 |
| Jason Kokrak -4 | Sung Kang -1 | ||
| Luke List -1 | |||
| John Senden -1 |
The Oracles’ Fourball
After my homemade concoction of Oracles’ broth, divot fill and pond water ended up producing a top 10 and two top 20’s in Mexico, and a bender on pure pond water ended up producing another top 10 in Puerto Rico, I have to admit that, Sunday night, I was seriously conflicted as to whether or not I should bother making the two-hour long trek to the Oracles’ cave on Monday morning to summon the spectral forms that would inform this week’s fourball.
However, after consulting long and hard with my Sage (if you haven’t got one, I highly recommend it), we decided that, for the sake of scientific clarity, I should, indeed, return to the Oracles, partake in their broth, and then see how things go in Florida before deciding what our arrangement will be going forward.
Don’t worry, though, I’ll be sure to keep you all well informed.
Brooks Koepka: Whilst taking shelter in an abandoned badger warren from a particularly nasty shower of hail enroute to the cave, to pass the time, I read an advance copy of Brooks Koepka’s interview with ‘GQ’ that one of my many, many spies had forwarded onto me. And with the contents of that interview still fresh in my mind – coupled with his comments regarding Patrick Reed – it was probably the least surprised I’ve ever been in the cave (and I’ve witnessed one of the Oracles full-on transform into an owl) to see Brooks be the first person to emerge from the mists once I’d successfully gone under. Because if we’re to take what he said in that interview (which you can read right here) as a true reflection of how he likes to approach the game of golf – “His entire M.O. is transforming the game into mano a mano.” – then to see Patrick Reed win his second WGC at the weekend after what he had said during the week must surely be after turning this into the exact kind of situation the four-time Major champion claims to love.
Because when he said what he did about Reed at that SiriusXM presser , though he may not have set out with the intention to do it, Koepka indirectly challenged Patrick Reed by doing the very thing he, rightly, claimed in that ‘GQ’ interview doesn’t happen in golf, “… you can’t be very vocal, and you don’t taunt.”. Well, in winning down in Mexico, the former Masters champion answered that challenge in the perfect manner – by being the one left raising the trophy at the end of it all. And if we’re to imagine this is like two ice hockey players or two baseball players squaring up to one another, then I’d imagine that this week we’ll surely be seeing a particularly focused Brooks Koepka looking to make sure that, in this instance, he isn’t the first ‘mano’ who blinks.
Billy Horschel: Though it feels as if Billy Horschel has been somewhat flying under the radar for the past few years, the reality is that the 2014 FedEx Cup champion has actually been playing super steadily. Like, he has 23 top ten finishes since 2016, including 4 so far this season; he has 3 runner-up finishes; he has 2 wins (the AT&T Byron Nelson in 2017 & the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2018); and has made just over $12 million on the PGA Tour – I mean, that’s fantastic playing by anyone’s standards.
So when you combine the above with the fact he’s heading into Florida this week off the back of two straight T-9 finishes (coming at the Waste Management & WGC-Mexico) and that since 2016 he’s only missed one cut at the Honda and otherwise posted finishes of T-8, T-4 & T-16, I think with his capability to do well on tough courses – see his T-4 finish at Wentworth last year – plus that he’s 7th in ‘Total Putting’ and 4th in ‘Approach Putt Performance’, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Billy adding to his collection of strong finishes at PGA National.
Tommy Fleetwood: Now, if you’ve read your fair share of my previews, you’ll not only be well aware that Tommy Fleetwood tends to wind up in these fourballs quite a lot, but you’ll know the reasons why that is – his driving, ball striking, scrambling & just all-round consistency. And when I see him rocking up to PGA National this week (a place where he finished solo 4th in 2018) those exact same qualities make up quite a large part of the reasoning for why I think he could do just as well, if not better, than what he did two years ago.
What I feel best suits Tommy this week, however, is that this is a tournament where, for three out of the last four years, the difficulty of the course has seen the winning score fail to reach double digits. And why is this good news for Tommy? Because whilst you could describe him as a ‘solid enough’ putter, he can very much blow hot & cold with the flat stick, with it often taking until the weekend to properly heat up. But with a tournament like the Honda, one that isn’t necessarily about making a lot of birdies, I see that as meaning the field won’t get away from Tommy if he’s playing his usual game of pars, limiting blemishes and picking up the odd birdie, which thereby means, come Sunday, he could be right in the mix.
Im Sung-jae( aka. Sungjae Im) : After securing an impressive 3½ points from a possible 5 in his debut outing at the Presidents Cup back in December, Sungjae Im, who was already known as an incredibly talented young golfer, left Melbourne with his reputation even more enhanced. Known as much for his work ethic as his very deliberate backswing, the 21 year old Sungjae plays in a lot of tournaments and strikes me as someone just very comfortable in the life of a touring professional – then again, who wouldn’t be comfortable with a life where you rock up to a golf course, play four rounds of golf and pick up a nice cheque at the end of it all?
And when it comes to “picking up cheques”, Sungjae seems to have cracked the formula. In the 12 tournaments he’s played either side of the Presidents Cup – i.e. the 6 before & the 6 after – he’s only missed one cut (which came at the Genesis) and otherwise racked up a 2nd & 3rd place finish, a T-10, two top 20’s, and then a middling range of lower finishes, though nothing outside the top 50.
So what’s so good about Sungjae’s game that, essentially, allows him to treat elite level golf tournaments as A.T.M’s? Well, he hits it long (306.1 yards) and fairly straight off the tee (63.13%). He’s a good ball striker, hitting a decent amount of greens (69.44% – GIR). But what puts Sungjae over the top, however, is, ultimately, what golf is all about – he finds a way to get the ball in the hole in the least amount of strokes. See, a strong putting game sees him sitting 14th in ‘Scoring Average’ (69.924), 16th in ‘Birdie Average’ & 23rd in ‘Birdie or Better Conversion %’. So, if he can manage to play to the level of those statistics this week in Florida, or even better them, then Sungjae could not only improve upon the T-51 finish he managed in his first outing through the “Bear Trap” last year, but even snatch his first PGA Tour victory from its claws in his second.
Title Image Photo Credit: Getty Images