Jack Nicklaus thinks the Honda Classic will be in a more favorable spot on the PGA Tour’s schedule next year.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Jack Nicklaus is hoping the Honda Classic’s one-year run as the final stop on the Florida Swing is over.
The legendary golfer, whose charity is the primary beneficiary of the Honda Classic, made it clear Sunday he does not believe the tournament is in a good spot coming between the Players Championship and a World Golf Championship event.
“No, that won’t work out,” he said when asked if remaining in the spot is good for Honda. “I think that’s going to be changed next year.
“It will be different on the schedule; I think the Tour schedule will be different. I think it will be much better for the Honda tournament, I think they’ll have a good field.”
According to Honda officials, a change in the schedule is in discussion.
Honda was moved forward three weeks in the schedule this year into the spot previously held by the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida. The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas, is next week. Valspar was moved to late April.
The Honda field has suffered this year, much of it out of the tournament’s control. Along with being in a tough spot in the schedule, local favorites Brooks Koepka, Daniel Berger and Gary Woodland could not play because of injury or illness.
And Honda was hurt by locals Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay — all ranked in the top 11 in world – taking off the week, despite living within about a 20-minute drive of PGA National.
Nicklaus was asked if he felt pressure during his Hall of Fame career to play in certain tournaments.
“You always had that pressure,” he said. “Out of maybe 40 tournaments, I played usually 18 or 20. Some tournaments you’re never going to go to just because it just doesn’t work. You got some you’d like to work in. I’d used to try to take two or three every year I hadn’t played and tried to work that into the calendar.”
Matt Jones earned his second PGA Tour win on Sunday, claiming the Honda Classic in convincing fashion.
Matt Jones began the week with a 61, entered the final round of the Honda Classic with a three-shot lead and is leaving with the trophy after a strong finish.
The 40-year-old Australian earned his second win on the PGA Tour on Sunday, carding a stress-free 2-under 68 to claim the title at 12 under on the challenging Champion course at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Jones began the day with birdies on the first and third holes, ultimately making the turn at 1 under after a bogey on the par-3 7th. Following a bogey on No. 11, Jones took a five-shot lead with consecutive birdies on Nos. 12 and 13. He immediately gave a shot back with a bogey on No. 14.
The Champion course at PGA National packed a punch during the third round of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Welcome back, Champ.
This is more like it. More what we expect out of the Honda Classic in March. More what we expect out of the Champion course, which annually makes the cut of most difficult courses on the PGA Tour.
The Champ packed a punch during the third round, and it left much of the field staggering.
This course can become a Bear when the winds shift, making the toughest stretch even more of a challenge. That’s what happened Saturday when the average score on the final four holes spiked by about 1.5 shots.
“This course is brutal,” said Jupiter’s Keegan Bradley. “Normally, we’re going to play in some wind, and this north wind is way tougher.”
Those winds picked up to nearly 20 mph for most of the day after periods of unusual calm the first two days.
But this was the perfect storm: a shift in winds, firm greens and challenging pin placements. The final four holes, impacted most by a north wind, saw 148 birdies Friday. That number Saturday: 21.
And the scores were back to normal on a track ranked as the toughest non-major on Tour in the U.S. in 2018-19, the last full season, with an average of 71.02 (1.02) over par. After dipping to an atypical 70.7 Friday, the Champion was back to its challenging self, coming in at 71.43 Saturday.
“It’s just draining,” said Sam Ryder, who shot a 72 after entering the day 8-under after the first two rounds. “I think the biggest challenge is just trying to stay focused and trying to stay sharp. You just can’t let your guard down at all. It gets harder and harder late in the day.
“So, yeah, it was a battle for sure. So, ready for some rest.”
But here’s the thing about the nine-year pro still looking for his first victory on the PGA Tour. He was 2 over and went from fourth to tied for fourth.
Aaron Wise, who briefly held a six-shot lead, can attest to the difficulty Saturday. Wise gave it all back and then some, going from 14 under to 7 under in nine holes.
“Yeah, it was a rough day,” Wise said. “The forecast was for 10 to 15 (mph winds), and it was a lot more than that.”
And nobody felt the Bear Trap (holes No. 15, 16, 17) come alive Saturday as much as Chase Koepka, the Palm Beach County native and brother of four-time major champion, Brooks.
On Friday, Koepka became the 10th player since 2007 to birdie the 15th, 16th and 17th holes in a single round and first since 2019. Saturday was a much different story on the stretch of golf course in which water threatens every shot into the green.
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Koepka played the three holes in 4-over, including a double bogey on the par-3 17th hole after his tee shot landed in a bunker behind the green, and he missed a 4.5-foot putt for bogey. He shot a 74 after a pair of 69s.
“When 15, 16 and 17 are straight into the wind,” Bradley said, “they’re really tough holes.”
Bradley had a potentially historic round going — he was 6-under after 11 holes, the course record of 9-under was equaled Thursday by Jones — before being caught by the Bear Trap.
Bradley stepped to the tee box on No. 15 and put his shot in the water. He made a double. He missed a 4-footer for par on No. 16, giving back half of what he gained the first 11 holes in two holes.
“The greens are very fast, very firm and it’s very windy,” Bradley said, other than that …
“It’s a challenge for sure.”
J.B. Holmes shot a 67 and enters the final round in second place, three shots behind Jones. Holmes is one of four golfers with three rounds in the 60s. He was challenging C.T. Pan’s 65, the low round of the day, before a bogey on No. 16.
Holmes said he didn’t miss an iron shot on the back side. “So it was playing very difficult, it wasn’t a lot of room for error,” he said.
In more than 285 rounds in the first two days, just two golfers failed to make a birdie. Three joined them Saturday: Michael Thompson, the 2013 Honda champion; Jimmy Walker, the 2016 PGA champion and Scott Harrington.
As for the final round … who knows what the Champ will have in store. Will the winds dial back to manageable levels like we saw Friday or will they roar?
“I don’t know exactly what the forecast is for tomorrow,” Wise said. “But if it’s anything like today, at least I have all the experience that I gained on some of those putts and some of those shots to lean back on.”
Matt Jones glanced at a leaderboard on Saturday and saw he was six shots back. “Six back means nothing on this golf course,” he said.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Matt Jones glanced at a leaderboard at the seventh hole and saw he had fallen six shots behind Aaron Wise in Saturday’s third round of the Honda Classic.
Jones wasn’t the last bit worried.
“Six back means nothing on this golf course,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how big your lead is or how small your lead is, anything can happen on this golf course.”
A lot certainly happened on Saturday, when windy conditions from the north and tougher pin positions brought out the best – and worst – of the Champion course at PGA National.
By the time Jones walked off the 14th hole, he was tied for the lead as Wise unraveled. By the end of the third round, Jones had a three-shot lead over Wise and J.B. Holmes at 10-under 200.
Jones’ 1-under 69 was the only sub-par round among the final 12 groups – the other 11 players were a combined 39-over.
The Bear Trap allowed only nine birdies combined on the 15th, 16th and 17th holes. Jones said he didn’t even aim for the greens on those holes.
“They’re not birdie holes at all,” Jones said. “They’re just don’t-make-the-biggest-mistakes holes. I managed to play them even par, which is great.”
After Wise opened with consecutive 64s and played his first four holes in two-under Saturday, it looked like he was turning the Honda Classic into a runaway with the six-shot lead.
Then his game crashed. He double bogeyed the par-4 sixth hole after missing a 3-foot putt, and things continued downhill. He played his last 13 holes in 7-over and staggered away after a 75 to drop to 7-under.
From up six to three back, in less than 2½ hours.
“No shock, nothing like that,” Wise said. “I just ran into a really hard golf course and I was a little off my game. It was a rough day.”
Aaron Wise tees off on the 4th hole during the third round of the Honda Classic. (Photo: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)
Wise wasn’t happy when he – not his group – got put on the clock at the 10th hole for slow play. But he insisted it had no role in his back-nine 39, ending with a bogey on the 18th hole after he couldn’t find his hooked tee shot.
“I didn’t think it was necessarily a fair thing that happened, but it happened, and it is what it is,” he said. “We’ll move on from there.”
Jones, who shot a course-record-tying 61in the first round, caught Wise when he almost jarred his approach at the par-4 14th. When Wise bogeyed the 15th hole after hitting his approach into a bunker, Jones had the lead alone for the first time since Thursday.
“Growing up in Australia, I’m quite comfortable in the wind,” said Jones, who has won a PGA Tour event and two Australian Opens. “I just play a little safer. I don’t go at the pins.”
J.B. Holmes, one of the game’s longest hitters, shot a second consecutive 67 to put him in position to win his sixth PGA Tour title. He made five birdies against two bogeys.
“Really, I didn’t miss an iron shot on the back side,” Holmes said. “It was playing very difficult, there wasn’t a lot of room for error.”
Holmes has had some success in South Florida. He took a five-shot lead into the final round of the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral near Miami, but was overtaken by Dustin Johnson on Sunday.
C.T. Pan’s 65 – the low round of the day – moved him 38 spots up the leaderboard into fourth place at 6-under. He’s tied with Cameron Tringale (69) and Sam Ryder (72).
Keegan Bradley had a brilliant round derailed by a double bogey at the 15th hole. His 67 has him tied for seventh at 5-under with defending champion Sungjae Im (69), former major champions Zach Johnson (70) and Stewart Cink (70), Brice Garnett (70) and Robert Streb (70).
Jones had the lead at the 2008 Honda Classic as a rookie until he double-bogeyed the 17th hole in the final round. He knows how hard it will be to finish the job Sunday when conditions are expected to be similar to Saturday’s.
“I’ve got a long way to go,” Jones said. “A lot of holes out here that can get you. If I keep managing my game, hopefully I’ll have a chance coming down the last nine.”
As Jones said, a three-shot lead means nothing here. We saw Saturday how quickly a six-shot lead can disappear on the Champion course.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the final round of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic in Florida.
It all comes down to this.
Looking for his second PGA Tour win, 40-year-old Matt Jones battled the wind in the third round of the Honda Classic and rode a 1-under 69 on Moving Day at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to the top of the leaderboard at 10 under, three shots clear of J.B. Holmes and Aaron Wise, T-2 at 7 under. The trio of C.T. Pan, Cameron Tringale and Sam Ryder are T-4 at 6 under.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the final round of the Honda Classic.
PGA Tour Live: 7:15 a.m.-6 p.m. Twitter: 7:15-8:30 a.m.
RADIO
PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 1-6 p.m.
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Phil Mickelson was quiet about his move from California to Florida, saying they haven’t started construction yet on Jupiter Island.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Phil Mickelson’s move to South Florida could be delayed.
The Hall of Fame golfer was reported to be building a home on Jupiter Island but said Saturday he has yet to start construction.
Although Mickelson said “the plan” is to move here, he also said he wanted to “hold off” on talking about his reason for the decision. “A lot of great things around the area,” was all he would say.
When asked if he still could make the move from his home in Rancho Santa Fe, California, to Florida this summer, Mickelson, 50, said: “We’re looking at that as an option. We still have to build. We have a lot. We haven’t built on it yet.”
Mickelson, though, appears to be enjoying his week in the area since arriving for the Honda Classic. After shooting a 69 Saturday, he praised the Pete Dye-designed Champion course.
“This golf course, conditions, setup-wise, like it’s so well done that you got a lot of options,” Mickelson said. “It’s playable, it’s tough, it’s difficult, I mean it’s really, really good. It’s been a pleasure to play because, even as the conditions have gotten more difficult, it’s still playable. You can play it with angles, different — it’s just really well done.”
Mickelson birdied Nos. 11 and 12 to shoot a 33 on the back nine. He has rebounded from an opening round 71 to shoot a 68 and 69, putting him at 2-under entering Sunday’s final round. This is Mickelson’s fourth appearance at the Honda, and he has never finished higher than 17th.
Mickelson, who has won five majors among his 44 PGA Tour championships, believes the weekend will help him prepare for the Masters, which is in three weeks.
“Because the rough is more like Augusta first cut, what it does is it allows you to, first of all, get ready for the Masters, which I think is really cool of them to do, and then second it allows you to play angles into some of these difficult pins that are tucked,” Mickelson said. “And when you get a challenging wind like this you still have a chance to play it. Even if you miss a shot here or there you can fight your way and try to salvage a par. I just think it’s a brilliantly conditioned and set up golf course.”
The Honda Classic enters round three Saturday at PGA National Resort and Spa, Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
The Honda Classic enters round three Saturday at PGA National Resort and Spa, Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Knoxville native Peter Malnati finished +11 after second-round play. He missed the cut and will not play in the final two rounds.
Malnati shot a 75 in the first-round on Thursday and 76 during Friday’s second-round.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA – MARCH 19: Peter Malnati of the United States looks on from the 14th tee during the second round of The Honda Classic at PGA National Champion course on March 19, 2021 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Malnati resides in Knoxville and played collegiately at Missouri from 2007-10.
He joined the PGA Tour in 2014 and has one career victory, winning the 2016 Sanderson Farms Championship.
Malnati has finished in the top-25 26 times, has seven top-10 finishes and has one second-place result. He has participated in 169 career PGA Tour events, while making the cut 83 times.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the third round of the Honda Classic
It’s Moving Day at PGA National.
After the first two rounds of the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, one player rose above the rest. Aaron Wise, seeking his second PGA Tour win, sits atop the leaderboard at 12 under after consecutive rounds of 64 on Thursday and Friday.
PGA Tour Live: 7:15 a.m.-6 p.m. Twitter: 7:15-8:30 a.m.
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The Honda Classic’s COVID-limited crowd has been more subdued and appreciative at the Bear Trap this year.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — With a COVID-imposed limit of 10,000 patrons per day at a tournament that attracted upwards of 50,000 fans per day in past years, this year’s Honda Classic has a much different feel for fans, vendors and officials.
Concession sales are down, and the reduced crowds at the Bear Trap, which comprises the difficult 15th, 16th and 17th holes at the Champion course at PGA National Resort & Spa, are much less raucous than in past years. Grandstands around the greens that were once jammed with noisy fans now have quieter, socially distanced fans.
“You notice the difference in the stands, definitely, but the atmosphere is still the same,” said volunteer Valerie Coope of Stuart, Florida, who, along with her husband, Daniel, operated the ShotLink system at the 16th green.
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For many years, the couple has worked primarily at the 16th hole with ShotLink, which records the length of every shot, including putts, hit by every player. “You can’t beat being out in the sun, being this close to the players.”
The adjacent par-3 17th hole was always the tournament’s noisiest, with fans in the grandstands around the tee shouting encouragement, and, in the case of some players, insults, as the golfers prepared to hit iron shots to a green fronted on three sides by water.
The fans were much more subdued Thursday and Friday, expressing appreciation for good tee shots and commiserating with, rather than ridiculing, the pros whose shots splashed down short of the green.
“It’s been pretty tame,” said marshal Lorraine Farmer, a West Palm Beach, Florida, native who has been a volunteer along with her husband since the days when the tournament was known as the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic.
As a marshal, Farmer’s job is to hold up “Quiet Please” signs as players prepare to hit their tee shots. At past Hondas, especially late in the afternoon when some fans had enjoyed multiple adult beverages, shushing the crowd was a challenge. Friday afternoon, the sound was more of a low murmur.
Chase Parker of Eugene, Oregon, Todd Fulton of Sarasota, Florida, Jarrod Lussier of Jupiter, Florida, and Anthony Huber of Verona, New Jersey, hung out between the 17th tee and green, where they cheered players as they walked past them toward the green.
In past years, the crowd along the ropes might have been five or more people deep. The four friends didn’t have anyone in front of or behind them.
“The crowds are nothing like they were,” Fulton said.
“We’re just happy to be here,” Huber added. “We love this.”
Another thing they loved: Not having to wait 10 minutes to get something to eat or drink.
At the Goslings Bear Trap by the 16th green and 17th tee, a woman named Brianna served a variety of rum drinks to customers. She said the most popular cocktail was the Dark ’n Stormy, which features Goslings dark rum and ginger beer.
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“It was a lot busier the past few years, but there’s still a pretty great turnout I feel like,” she said. “We’re definitely busier today than we were yesterday. I think we’re on target for the projected sales.
“I guess this year (based on the limited attendance) they projected it differently. I was told that the years prior it felt like you were at a concert almost. It was packed.”
At a nearby refreshment stand between the 10th and 17th greens, employees Amber and Jack said business was slow, but steady.
“It hasn’t been too busy, but we do have enough customers coming in that we keep going,” Amber said. “We definitely had a lot more people last year. We don’t have a lot of people waiting in line. Last year, it was really packed, and we had a lot of people backed up in all three lines. Now, we have a steady flow. Everyone comes in and usually the three stations are good enough to get everyone.”
She and Jack added that bottles of water were by far their most popular item, followed by cheeseburgers and chicken sandwiches.
After 36 holes at PGA National, Aaron Wise is in the Honda Classic lead entering the weekend.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Aaron Wise didn’t wait until Saturday to make his big move at the Honda Classic.
Wise made two eagles in a four-hole stretch — taking advantage of the two par-5s on the Champion course — to vault into a three-shot lead at the halfway point of the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort & Spa, with Brandon Hagy and Matt Jones tied for second at 9-under.
Wise’s second consecutive 64 enabled him to shoot the lowest 36-hole score, 12-under 128, in the Honda Classic since the tournament moved to PGA National in 2007. Dan Pohl shot 128 when the event was held at TPC at Eagle Trace in 1989.
The eagles helped Wise land atop the leaderboard. He hit his second shot to 3 feet at the 18th hole (his ninth) and then rolled in a 46-footer at the par-5 third. He became just the seventh player to make two eagles in the same round on the Champion course in more than 6,000 rounds.
“They were really special,” Wise said. “I hit a great drive on No. 18 that left me just a 7-iron. Then I rolled in a bomb at No. 3 that was a bonus. Those two sparks in the round were huge.”
The 24-year-old Wise has won once on the PGA Tour, the 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson, and has nine career top-10s in 87 starts He started the Honda on Thursday with three consecutive birdies and shot a 64 that was overlooked because of Jones’ course-record-tying 61.
It was impossible to not notice Wise after the pair of eagles. It didn’t hurt he’s made 230 feet of putts the first two rounds. But he knows he’s only halfway home.
“It’s two great rounds of golf, and I love that I’m playing good,” he said. “This place can get to you pretty quick and there’s a lot of trouble out there.”
There have already been eight 64s or lower shot this week, equaling the tournament record at PGA National in 2012. There have been almost twice as many eagles (29) on the 18th hole as bogeys or worse (15).
Hagy started the week out of the Honda field, but when he moved up on the alternate’s list Tuesday, he caught an evening flight from Scottsdale, Ariz., to West Palm Beach. Wednesday, he awakened to a call from a PGA Tour official informing him he had made the field.
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Who needs a practice round? Hagy had six birdies, an eagle and no bogeys Friday during his 62.
“I feel like I’m playing on a little bit of house money, so I kept it pretty loose out there,” Hagy said. “I just tried to have a good feeling for every shot and I am just kind of grateful for the opportunity.”
Jones could not match the magic of Thursday’s birdie-free 61. He bogeyed two of his first three holes Friday and only an eagle at the par-5 18th kept his round of 70 together.
“It’s always hard to follow up a really good round,” Jones said. “I didn’t feel like I was playing that bad. I still had a good day and I’m happy with where I’m at.”
Sam Ryder had a 63 to move into fourth place, four back. Jupiter’s Denny McCarthy (65), Shane Lowry (66), Scott Harrington (67) and 2014 Honda champion Russell Henley are tied for fifth at 7-under.
West Palm Beach resident Chase Koepka was in danger of missing the cut until he birdied all three holes of the Bear Trap (15, 16 and 17), becoming the 10th player since 2007 to do so in the same round. Koepka shot another 69 to move into 30th place and make his sixth cut in eight career PGA Tour starts.
“Today was one of those days where I really battled back,” Koepka said. “I felt like I was swinging it great, but I couldn’t really find the green, couldn’t really find the fairway.
“I told myself just to keep doing what I’m doing, because if I start second guessing myself out here on this golf course, you’re going to get beat up really quickly. I was just really proud of myself the way I battled.”
Fan favorite Phil Mickelson (68) overcame a triple bogey at the 11th hole with three birdies coming in to finish inside the 1-over cut line by two shots.
Lee Westwood was among the biggest names to miss the cut. Runner-up at the Players and Arnold Palmer Invitational the last two weeks (who played 54 holes at Augusta National this week), the 47-year-old Englishman finally ran out of gas Friday with a 78.
He still deserves kudos for honoring his commitment to play at the Honda.
