Take a scroll through our favorite outfits of the week.
The Honda Classic wrapped up on Sunday and in Palm Beach, Florida, fashion, the players dressed for sunny skies, palm trees and bright green fairways. Vibrant colors and eye-catching patterns took the stage this year as players are expanding their comfort zone.
Sam Ryder’s Palm Beach tan was accentuated by purple tones. Rory Sabbatini gave off an island vibe with his tropical printed polo and fedora. Chase Seiffert’s polo had a touch of the morning sky with light hues of pale pinks, whites and blooming greens. Kurt Kitayama stayed true to the Palm Beach ocean forecast with his Prince Blue colored pants and complimentary belt.
Take a closer look at our favorite ‘fits of the week.
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“I was prepared and ready to play well today, and I just didn’t hit the shots I need to hit. That’s the way golf goes.”
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — It was the fitting ending to Daniel Berger’s day.
The Jupiter resident started Sunday in the sunshine and ahead of the field by five shots, the largest 54-hole lead in Honda Classic Tournament history.
It ended in a downpour when his 3-wood from 259-yards on No. 18 landed in the water short and right of the pin, ending any hope of a miracle finish.
Berger bogeyed No. 18 to finished with a 4-over 74, his worst score in 25 rounds at his hometown tournament. This after starting the tournament with consecutive 65s. He finished fourth, giving back eight shots on the day to winner Sepp Straka.
Berger’s five-shot lead disappeared in five holes. After six, Berger found himself in the second spot for the first time since he forged ahead on his ninth hole Friday.
“Just a poor round,” Berger said after congratulating Straka, who won his first PGA Tour title with a birdie on No. 18, capping a 66 on the day and 10-under 270 for the tournament.
“It can happen at any time. I’m not going to dwell on it too much.”
Everyone will experience heartbreak, especially on a track as tough as the Champion Course. And it probably will not be the last time Berger will blow a lead. It certainly was not the first. He now is 1-of-4 in holding the lead after 54 holes.
Even golf’s G.O.A.T, Jack Nicklaus, who made an appearance at the course Sunday, said it’s difficult to start the final round so far ahead of the field.
The Golden Bear admitted he did not like being the hunted.
“Sometimes it’s hard to have a five-shot lead,” Nicklaus said on the NBC telecast. “I never liked a big lead. I usually got through it.”
That’s Jack. Berger is not in that class (neither is anyone else who has played in a PGA Tour event in the last year). But the 21st ranked golfer in the world with four PGA Tour titles did not blame his slow start – or daylong struggles – on the pressure of holding a lead.
“I felt fine today,” he said. “Honestly, I warmed up well and I felt good. I just didn’t make that many putts, or any putts, and if you don’t make putts you’re not going to shoot a good score. That’s what happened today.”
Berger lost his touch on the greens at the worst time. He was no worse than 27th in strokes gained putting in each of the first three rounds.
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On Sunday, he was 73rd. Dead last.
“I don’t think I made a single putt today,” he said. “I don’t know what happened. Just didn’t feel good over the putter today.”
Berger did not make a putt longer than 3 feet until a par-saving 7-footer at No. 17.
The putting, that was on Berger. The weather, that was the golfing gods looking out for Straka and not Berger or Shane Lowry.
Berger lamented the rain that turned into a deluge at just the wrong time. Berger and Lowry, the Jupiter resident who caught Berger early and then held at least a share of the lead until the final hole, stood on the 18th tee box under umbrellas, joking but certainly with a very uneasy feeling.
Straka had teed off in much lighter rain, the ball traveling 334 yards. He turned that into a tournament clinching birdie.
Berger’s tee shot in a downpour landed 273-yards from the hole. Needing an eagle on the par-5 hole he had to rip it and watched as the ball and the tournament were lost in the water.
“It was super unfortunate at the end to get the rain,” Berger said. “Where (Straka) hit his drive, that’s where we would’ve hit our drives and we would’ve had a 3- or 4-iron in.
“But that’s how golf goes. You don’t always get the good breaks.”
Berger knows all too well about not getting breaks on the Champion Course. In his first attempt at Honda, his rookie year in 2015, Padraig Harrington rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole in regulation to catch Berger, and won on the second playoff hole, when Berger put his tee shot on No. 17 in the water.
“Today was a good learning experience,” Berger said. “I was prepared and ready to play well today, and I just didn’t hit the shots I need to hit. That’s the way golf goes.”
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Heavy rain on the final hole set up for a thrilling finish on Sunday evening.
Daniel Berger entered the final round of his hometown tournament with a five-shot lead, the largest 54-hole lead in the tournament’s 50-year history. Just a few holes later on Sunday at the Honda Classic he was in a dogfight with a hungry pack of chasers.
After starting 4 over through his first six holes, Berger welcomed Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka and Kurt Kitayama to the mix, setting up for a thrilling finish on Sunday in the rain at PGA National.
Playing in the penultimate group, Straka took the clubhouse lead with a tap-in birdie on the 18th to reach 10 under and ultimately claim the title. The win is Straka’s first on the PGA Tour and first professional win since the 2018 KC Golf Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour. Born in Austria, Straka is the first Austrian to win on the PGA Tour.
If you’ve played golf then you know how annoying it can be to play with someone who takes forever to hit a shot.
It can take the fun out of a round and lead to some awkward and angry conversations that could lead to a mid-round dustup in the group.
Well, amateurs aren’t the only ones who can be dreadfully slow players. Some guys on the PGA Tour can be painful to play with, too, which is even more brutal because these guys are supposed to be the best in the world.
Check out how long it took for Brian Stuard to hit this shot yesterday at the Honda Classic.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Cash wagers are a part of the party in the Honda Classic’s stadium seating surrounding the 17th hole at PGA National’s Champion Course.
Whether between groups of friends or complete strangers, fans attending Sunday’s final round are sure to see cash trading hands when viewing play on the final hole of the world-famous Bear Trap.
Here’s a look at four of the gallery’s most humorous and popular wagers from the first three rounds of the Honda Classic 2022:
Caddie racing
And they’re off!
Rowdy fans at No. 17 have pulled some caddies into the off-course competition, placing wagers on which caddie will walk from the tee box and step on the green first.
With caddies wearing red, blue or white bibs, don’t be surprised to hear patrons calling out the colors of their wagered caddie as they pass in front of public grandstands that are pulsing with club music.
“So we try to get there together and mess with them,” said Storey, who paused with her foot in the air just short of the No. 17 green on Thursday. “…We try and have fun all the time. When it stops being fun it’s not worth it.”
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Left or right of the hole?
This wager is as simple as it gets: Will the golfer’s tee shot land left or right of the hole?
The direction is based on the golfer’s perspective from the tee box. Astute wagers will consider hole placement and the shot trajectory of recent golfers to make this bet more of an educated guess.
Who pulls the pin?
The caddies are again the target of wagers as fans bet which caddie will be the first to pull the pin from the hole on No. 17. These rules can vary from first to touch the pin to which caddie returns the pin to the cup.
Though not necessarily using this name, fans have placed wagers according to the rules of this classic golf gambling game.
Which player will be first on the green? Bingo.
Closest to the hole with all balls on the green? Bango.
First in the cup? Bongo.
Three points are available with each group that comes through No. 18, meaning players can assign values to each wager and carry wins from group to group.
With the difficulty of hitting the No. 17 green, it’s not as simple as picking the first golfer in a group while the rules of “Bango” allow opportunities for wins even if the initial tee shot finds the water.
The 2019 Open Champion sits five shots back of Daniel Berger.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — A native of Ireland, Shane Lowry grew up playing some of the world’s most challenging golf courses. They include the Royal Portrush Golf Club, where he won the 2019 Open Championship.
Now that he lives in Jupiter, Lowry ranks the Champion Course at PGA National as one of the toughest he plays. So he was pleased to shoot a 3-under-par 67 Saturday to move into a second-place tie in the Honda Classic.
“I love the setup here, and I love this kind of golf course where if I shoot 2- or 3-under and I’m happy with myself, that’s the type of golf course I like,” Lowry said. “I feel like personally that too many weeks we play where it’s 20-, 25-under winning tournaments, so for me, this is more enjoyable than that.”
Shane Lowry of Ireland reacts to his second shot on the third hole during the third round of The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort And Spa on February 26, 2022, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Lowry, 34, posted scores of 70-67-67 for a 6 under par 204 total, five shots behind leader Daniel Berger, who at No. 21 in the world rankings is one of only six players in the top 25 at the Honda.
“It’s actually a pity that we don’t have a really strong field here,” Lowry said. “I think the golf course is really, really good. I love it here. I think just where it is in the schedule doesn’t really work for a lot of players.”
Like the other 72 players who made the cut, Lowry found the firm greens challenging when it came to judging speed.
He did convert four birdie putts, two on the front nine and two on the back, but no putt was bigger than a 20-footer that he sank on the 476-yard par 4 sixth hole, which normally plays as a par 5. His tee shot landed in a fairway bunker and he hit his second shot 94 yards, leaving himself 102 yards from the hole, but he got up and down for his par.
“That was good for momentum,” Lowry said. “But I have it in my head you’re probably going to make bogeys out here, just need to keep the doubles off the card and try and make birdies when you do get the chances and hopefully you shoot a good score at the end of the day.
“I think I’m in a good frame of mind that way. I’m taking the bad breaks on the chin and taking the good breaks and good shots and moving on and try on the next one. But it was huge for momentum.”
Shane Lowry of Ireland plays his shot from the 17th tee during the second round of The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort And Spa on February 25, 2022, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Lowry, who began the day seven shots off the lead, two-putted for birdie on the par 5 third hole and sank a 9-foot putt for birdie on the fourth hole. He bogeyed the par 3 seventh when he missed the green to the left and failed to get up and down to go out in 34.
He birdied the 11th hole, sinking an 11½-foot putt, and made another 11-foot birdie putt on the 12th, then strung together six consecutive pars to earn a spot in Sunday’s final pairing with Berger.
The Honda is Lowry’s first PGA Tour event of the year and his fourth of the 2021-22 season. He comes into the tournament having played three tournaments in the Middle East.
“I was in the final group with a chance to win in Abu Dhabi, and I played decent the next two weeks and feel like my game’s in good shape,” Lowry said, “and I’m looking forward to the challenge of going out trying to win a PGA Tour event tomorrow.”
Martin Contini, of Argentina, made his first PGA Tour event memorable Saturday when he went into the stands along the par 5 18th hole to retrieve his errant second shot.
Contini, a member of the Korn Ferry Tour who was one of three open qualifiers for the Honda, hit a 3-wood from the rough, 251 yards from the hole, that flew left into the grandstands.
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“It was like a really hard and tricky shot,” he said. “I knew something like that could happen, so it wasn’t a surprise.”
What was surprising was when Contini climbed into the stands to retrieve his golf ball from under a spectator’s foot. He got a free drop in the rough, 49 yards from the hole. He hit his third shot onto the green and two-putted for par and an even-par 70 for the round that moved him into a tie for seventh at 2 under par 208.
“Yeah, that was wild,” said Contini. “That was crazy, that was funny. It turned out right perfect.”
If Berger wins Sunday, he’s projected to move from 21st in the world rankings to 13th.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — As soon as Daniel Berger hit the short par putt on the 10th hole, he knew he pushed it to the right. He even gestured with his hand.
Much to his surprise — and delight — the ball unexpectedly broke left and slipped in the right edge. Berger laughed as he walked off the green.
It’s been that kind of week for Berger at the Honda Classic. Even when he thinks he misses a putt, it goes in.
“I thought I was going to be tapping in for bogey, but sometimes you get good breaks, and that was definitely one there,” Berger said.
Not that he needs any luck.
The Jupiter resident had a 1-under 69 Saturday on the Champion Course at PGA National to stretch his lead to five shots entering the final round. That ties for the largest 54-hole lead in the tournament’s 50-year history.
Daniel Berger putts on the 12th green during the third round of The Honda Classic golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Berger is at 11 under 199 to take the five-shot lead over four players: 2019 British Open champion Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Kurt Kitayama, and Chris Kirk. Berger was on the verge of playing the day’s only bogey-free round until he inexplicably bogeyed the par-5 18th.
“That was probably a better round than the first two 65s,” Berger said of his score in the first two rounds. “I’m extremely proud of the way I hung in there and battled after not getting off to a good start. The course was a big challenge.”
Berger almost won his hometown Honda Classic the first time he played it, losing in a playoff in 2015. This tournament doesn’t appear to be going down to the wire.
He has made 13 birdies and just two bogeys on the daunting Champion Course at PGA National — the rest of the field is averaging 3.3 bogeys per round — to take control. Berger has been a ball-striking machine; he’s second in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green.
Lowry knows he has a tough challenge if he wants to win for the first time since the Open victory, especially on the Champion course.
“You can’t really chase anyone down on this golf course,” Lowry said. “You just have to go about your business and try to shoot the best score you can. I think if you start getting too aggressive, that’s where you end up not doing very well. If you can get within two or three of the lead going to 14, 15, you never know what can happen.”
Despite the sizable lead, Berger said he has another stressful day ahead of him as he tries to win his fifth career PGA Tour title. He’s one-of-three in converting 54-hole leads.
“It’s nice to have the advantage, but that can change in one hole out here,” Berger said.
Berger admitted he took for granted playing a rare home game on the PGA Tour, until he missed last year’s Honda Classic when he had to withdraw just before the first day because of a rib injury. He also was unable to defend his title at Pebble Beach recently because of a back injury.
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If he wins Sunday, he’s projected to move from 21st in the world rankings to 13th. Berger’s career-best ranking is 12th.
The Champion Course lived up to its nickname Saturday. Lowry shot the lowest round, a 67. By comparison, there were 11 rounds Friday of 67 or lower.
“I was checking the scoring this morning and normally on a Saturday morning on the PGA Tour, somebody shoots 5-, 6-under and makes a move up the leaderboard,” Lowry said. “But nobody was doing that this morning, and I said to myself coming to the course it’s going to be difficult today.”
Chris Kirk plays his shot from the first tee during the third round of The Honda Classic golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Like Berger, Kirk also has four career PGA Tour titles but hasn’t won since 2015. Kirk took a seven-month break from playing golf in 2019 to deal with alcohol and depression issues, but has resurrected his career with four top 10 finishes since.
Kirk has excelled on the greens this week, ranking fourth in the field with 7.37 strokes gained. He made a 31-footer for birdie on the second hole to move within two shots of the lead, but made only one more birdie as Berger started to pull away.
The largest margin of victory in the Honda Classic was five shots, by defending champion Matt Jones, Camilo Villegas (2010), and Jack Nicklaus (1977). Villegas has the lowest score by a winner since the Honda Classic has been held at PGA National — 2007, at 13 under.
Berger has a chance to break those records Sunday, but he’s more interested in having his name engraved on the winner’s trophy.
“My strategy will remain the same,” Berger said. “Fairways and greens and try to roll in a putt here or there.”
After a few weeks out on the west coast, the PGA Tour is back east in the Sunshine State for the first event of the Florida swing, the 2022 Honda Classic.
The Champion course at PGA National is annually one of the toughest tests on the PGA Tour and features the Bear Trap, as well as the Grizzly Den. Both three-hole stretches are treacherous and can quickly ruin scores for even the best players in the world.
Daniel Berger continued his fine play on Saturday, as he entered the par 5 last at 12 under for the tournament and 2-under on his day. However, he made just his second bogey of the tournament on 18 and enters the final round 11 under, leading by five.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the final round of the 2022 Honda Classic.
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Curious to know what Brooks thought about the pace of play today.
We’ve all been there. Countless swing thoughts fluttering around in our minds that we freeze above the golf ball like looking at the target was equivalent to starring at Medusa herself.
Brian Stuard seemed to have the same problem on No. 9 Saturday at the Honda Classic.
Stuard, who was paired with Brooks Koepka — a player known to trash talk slow play — was getting ready to hit his approach into the green and nothing happened. It was like a record was skipping on a player with the same line repeating over and over again.
Waggle, waggle. Look. Waggle, waggle. It’s honestly tough to watch.
