Tag: Champions Course

Traveling across Alligator Alley to get to Honda Classic no sweat for Steve Stricker after last week’s hectic commute

After last week’s tough Players Championship commute, Steve Stricker is braced for the PGA National course at the Honda Classic.

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Even though Steve Stricker traveled across Alligator Alley, his commute to this week’s Honda Classic was much smoother that last week’s last-minute trek to The Player Championship.

On Monday, the USA Ryder Cup captain and his wife and caddie, Nicki, took a pleasant drive across the Sunshine State to get from his home in Naples to PGA National, covering the 160 miles in about 2 hours, 30 minutes.

He arrived in plenty of time to take his COVID-19 test for the Honda Classic, relax, and get a good night’s sleep. Woke up the next day for a practice round and plenty of work on the range and putting green, then played nine holes in the pro-am on Wednesday.

“This is a better way to prepare,” he said.

HONDA CLASSIC: Tee times, TV | Odds | Fantasy

Last week on the day of the first round, Stricker, 54, woke up 300 miles away from the PGA Tour’s flagship event when he got word at 6:45 a.m. that he got in as the last alternate. Stricker got moving quickly and flew up to northeast Florida, during which time he set up a caddie, and secured a car to take him from an airport 45 miles south of the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. As soon as he got on site, he took his COVID-19 test, waited for the results, practiced as much as he could and made his tee time.

And shot 2-under-par 70 to move into a tie for 12th after the first round. But he lost a little steam and shot 77 the next day and missed the cut.

“I didn’t mind last week, to tell you the truth,” he said. “I really wanted to play. Ultimately, it would have been nice to have played a practice round, or two. The chipping and putting kind of caught up to me at times.

“I think I ran out of gas a little bit. Mentally, I was a little fatigued. The whole week leading up to it. I kept moving up the alternate list, was wondering if I prepare or not, and I needed a little rest.

“Then the anticipation the night before, and then getting the call. And then you spend the whole day trying to get there and trying to play and I came out a little flat on Friday.”

Stricker had two good days of rest before heading to the Honda Classic. But now comes the tough part. Grueling might be a better word. After playing grinding Bay Hill for four days in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and spending two days walking the tightrope that is Pete Dye’s Stadium Course in The Players, he faces the Champions Course, one of the toughest tracks on the PGA Tour.

“I still find fun in all the pain,” Stricker said with a laugh. “I guess that’s golfers in general. You just keep putting yourself through it no matter what.

“I have three weeks off coming up, so I figure I can endure one more week.”

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Yes, fun can be had on grueling Champions Course at Honda Classic

The Champions Course during the Honda Classic can be grueling, but there’s also good times to be had. Steve DiMeglio reports.

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – How grueling is the Champions Course?

There’s a growling bear standing on his hind legs waiting for you on the 15th tee, for crying out loud. And that’s just one ominous beast players have to deal with during the Honda Classic at PGA National.

Add in roaring winds, penalizing water hazards, skeleton fairways and firm greens, all combing to potentially spoil of a good walk. For even the best players in the world, the Champions Course can be as painful as getting a root canal.

Which begs the question? Can PGA Tour players actually have fun playing vicious tracks than can batter and bruise their minds and souls?

“It’s a different type of fun,” 2016 Honda winner Adam Scott said. “You have to be very prepared mentally to have fun. That might be the answer for anyone doing well this week. As much as you need to physically play well out here, you need to be really mentally prepared because it’s going to beat you up even playing well.

“It is a different kind of fun, but it’s that fun challenge, so I might try and think about that the next 24, 48 hours and have some fun come Thursday.”

HONDA CLASSIC: Tee times, TV | Odds | Fantasy

The Honda Classic is the last of the four tournaments that make up the Florida Swing and it certainly hasn’t been an easy journey through the Sunshine State. There have been plenty of wrecks and pileups starting with The Concession in Bradenton, which is nicknamed The Concussion and played host to the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship and featured plenty of H2O to avoid and confusing greens to figure out.

Then it was on to Bay Hill in Orlando, which annually plays host to the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Thick, high rough, thin fairways, water on eight of the 18 holes are the course’s multiple signatures.

Then last week players dealt with Pete Dye’s diabolical Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, which yearly is home to The Players Championship, the Tour’s flagship event. Water comes into play on 17 of the 18 holes there, and any one shot can lead to a double bogey and right quick, especially on the 17th where an island green is but 135 yards away.

And now we have the Jack Nicklaus-designed Champions Course at PGA National that features the Bear Trap, a three-hole stroll down a dark alley.

Only three players will go through the entire Florida fearsome foursome swing – defending Honda Classic champion Sungjae Im, reigning Open Championship winner Shane Lowry and Lee Westwood, who finished runner-up at Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass.

“I personally like the challenges on the Florida Swing,” Im said.  “I know all the players will be struggling, including myself, but I try to have fun playing through the challenges. I tend to play well overall when the courses are more challenging.

“So yes, it is fun.”

Im must have had a blast last year in the Honda Classic. Excluding the major championships, his winning score of 6 under was the highest winning score in relation to par on the Tour since the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open. And last year, 66 was the lowest score of the week, which marked the first non-major on the PGA Tour since 1996 without any players shooting 5 under or better in any round.

Lee Westwood during the final round of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass – Stadium Course. (Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)

Still, Westwood, who has been on a roll the last two weeks, said fun can be had.

“I don’t think you need to be dictated to by how many birdies you make to have fun. I have fun at the U.S. Open,” he said. “When it’s a grind and pars mean a lot, I feel like I enjoy it just as much as when the winning score is 20-under.

“Yes, it’s definitely possible to have fun around here.”

Well then, Padraig Harrington must be a glutton for punishment. The European Ryder Cup captain won the Honda in 2005 and then again in 2015 and relishes every opportunity he puts the peg into the ground at the Champions Course.

“This is a strange statement, but I’d like to play tournament golf on a course like this every week,” he said. “I know it would beat you up eventually. If you play all four rounds here and get in contention, you’ll be tired on Sunday evening because you’ve got to pay attention at all stages out here. There’s plenty of trouble that can not only ruin a round but ruin a tournament in a very quick couple of shots.

“I like the course a lot.”

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