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Two-time heart recipient Erik Compton Monday qualifies for Honda Classic

Erik Compton, a two-time heart recipient, Monday qualified for the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic this week in Florida.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Bobby Jones famously said there are two types of golf – tournament golf and regular golf.

There is a third type: Monday-qualifying for PGA Tour events.

Birdies are necessary. Pars are not your friend. Bogeys are your mortal enemy. Go really low or go home.

“Monday qualifiers are really difficult unless you have the right frame of mind,” Erik Compton said Monday. “It’s a completely different mindset. You have to take aggressive lines and hit your shots.”

For the most part, Compton did exactly that, making eight birdies and a bogey to shoot 7-under 65 in the Honda Classic qualifier at Banyan Cay Golf & Resort. When he finished his round around noon local time, Compton was second behind a 63 fired by Marcelo Rozo of Colombia. Rozo, a member of the Korn Ferry Tour, shot a 29 on his front nine and managed the 63 despite making a double bogey on his back nine.

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It would be at least seven hours before Compton learned if he would be one of four players to earn a spot in this week’s Honda Classic at PGA National.

It proved to be worth the wait. Rozo, Compton and Zach Zaback (65) advanced to the Honda Classic. The final spot went to Stephen Stallings, who won a playoff over Mickey DeMorat after they each shot 66s.

Of course, with what Compton has endured – he’s the only professional athlete to undergo two heart-replacement surgeries – what’s a seven-hour wait?

In 2008, the Miami native started calling his friends and loved ones to tell them goodbye when he was racing to the hospital for what would become his second heart transplant. His first one came when he was 12. He took up golf to rehabilitate from that surgery.

Having grown up in South Florida, the Honda Classic is one of Compton’s favorite PGA Tour events. That’s why he made the decision to enter Monday’s qualifier even though he’s in this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event in Louisiana.

“I played great today,” Compton said. “I’ve been playing well lately, hitting a lot of fairways and greens, so I figured why not give it a try? It feels great to earn my spot again.”

He Monday-qualified for the Honda Classic two years ago, the last of his 162 PGA Tour career starts. Compton finished fourth in the 2013 Honda Classic, a performance bettered by only his runner-up finish in the 2014 U.S. Open. That earned him a spot in his only Masters the following year.

It’s been a good stretch for the 41-year-old Compton. Last week he got re-married and he’s feeling good about his game.

“I’m having a little resurgence,” Compton said.

The Honda Classic’s qualifier has become one of the most difficult to get through because of the quality of the Honda field and the large number of PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour players who live in South Florida.

There were 16 former PGA Tour winners entered Monday, including the caddie (Albin Choi) of last year’s Honda Classic champion, Sungjae Im.

“Maybe I ought to take the (aggressive) strategy into more events,” he said. “When I’m playing well, maybe I am a little too conservative.”

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Honda Classic field receives boost with additions of fan-favorites Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler

The PGA Tour’s Honda Classic field received a boost with the additions of fan-favorites Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler.

Phil Mickelson soon will call the area home. So, it only makes sense the legendary golfer is coming to Palm Beach County to support his hometown tournament.

Mickelson, a 44-time winner of the PGA Tour, will play in the Honda Classic for the first time since 2016. The native Californian confirmed late in 2019 he had purchased property on Jupiter Island to build a home. He is expected to move into his new home sometime this year.

While Mickelson joins the Honda field for just the fourth time in his career, Rickie Fowler, the 2017 Honda champion, also has committed and returns for the 12th consecutive year. Fowler, who lives in Jupiter, started supporting his hometown tournament in 2010 and has entered every year since.

Executive director Ken Kennerly called securing Mickelson and Fowler, “magical” for the tournament.

“Phil is a true legend, a generational player that everybody loves to follow and cheer for,” Kennerly said.

Mickelson and Fowler join a field that is shaping up to top those of the last two years when Honda was caught in a scheduling squeeze and had a difficult time attracting many of the sport’s biggest names.

Among those already committed are four-time majors champion Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger, both ranked in the top 15 in the world and both Jupiter residents who were raised in Palm Beach County. Other notables include defending Honda champion and No. 17 in the world Sungjae Kim; Max Homa, the winner of last month’s Genesis Invitational; Lee Westwood, the European Tour’s No. 1 player, and 2019 British Open champion Shane Lowry.

The Honda Classic will be held March 18-21 at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens.

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Although Mickelson and Fowler have struggled on the Tour in recent years, both remain among the most popular golfers in the world.

Mickelson, 50, is ninth on the all-time winners list and has won five majors, including the 2004, 2006 and 2010 Masters; the 2005 PGA Championship and the 2013 British Open. He also has been runner-up at the U.S. Open six times.

Mickelson has played on a record 12 Ryder Cups teams.

“My love of the game of golf is extremely high and my desire to compete and play against the best players is high, and so I find myself just internally motivated because of my love to compete and my love to try to bring out the best in me,” Mickelson said. “I’m excited to see if I’m able to continue playing at the highest level. What’s fun for me is competing, getting in contention, and trying to win tournaments.”

Mickelson has won two events on the main Tour since 2013 and his world ranking has dropped to 98, the lowest since midway through 1993, his second year on the Tour.

In the last two seasons, he has missed 11 cuts in 24 Tour events and has just two top 10 finishes. Last summer, Mickelson became eligible for the Tour Champions and won his first two tournaments. He fell short in his attempt to become the first player to win his first three Tour Champions starts, finishing 20th at the Cologuard Classic last weekend.

Mickelson has played Honda three times, the last in 2016. He missed the cut in 2014, finished tied for 17th in 2015 and tied for 37th in 2016 with an even par 280.

Fowler’s world ranking has plummeted to No. 65, his lowest since 2010, yet he continues to be among the Tour’s more marketable personalities. Fowler spent nearly the entire 2018 season and most of 2019 in the top 10 before his troubles began. Since the 2019 U.S. Open, when he tied for sixth, Fowler has finished in the top 10 twice in 28 starts.

Fowler, who has won five times on the PGA Tour, has four top 10 finishes at Honda. He was 12 under in 2017, winning by four shots over Gary Woodland and Morgan Hoffmann. Two years ago, Fowler was one shot from forcing a playoff, finishing in a tie for second with Koepka behind champion Keith Mitchell. He missed the cut in 2020.

Others who have committed to Honda include 2005 and 2015 Honda champion and European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, Englishman Ian Poulter and Swede Henrik Stenson, among others.

Players have until the afternoon of March 12 to commit to the field.

Grounds tickets for each day of competition are available for $60. Public hospitality tickets at the Champions Club on the 18th hole and the Waterford Club at the 17th green are $325.

Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis at thehondaclassic.com. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, daily attendance will be limited.

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The Honda Classic (and the Bear Trap) will look a little different this year

The Bear Trap, which winds around the 16th green and 17th tee box, will be reimagined into three sections.

Running the most heavily attended sporting event in Palm Beach County, Florida, year after year in normal times presents a challenge.

Now, add a persistent, highly contagious virus that requires strict mandates and that’s what Ken Kennerly, the executive director of the Honda Classic, is dealing with this year.

The Honda will be held at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens from March 18-21. Inside the ropes, the tournament will have the same feel as any other year since the event was moved from neighboring Mirasol 14 years ago. Outside those ropes, things will be much different for a tournament that twice has been named the most fan-friendly event on the PGA Tour.

Still, Kennerly and his staff are attempting to make this year’s event as normal as possible while adhering to the rules.

“When they come out here, they’re going to feel like they’re at a golf tournament,” Kennerly said. “They’re going to see structures. You’re going to feel the energy.”

Scaled down, of course.

“Safety is our total priority this year,” Kennerly added.

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The Honda, won last year by South Korea’s Sungjae Im, will be held to the guidelines put in place by the PGA Tour since it resumed play in June following a three-month shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic. That means an event that drew more than 206,000 fans over seven days last season will be limited to 40,000 over four days this year, and no more than 10,000 per day.

“The credibility of the PGA Tour stands first and foremost,” Kennerly said. “The Tour’s not going to let anybody put something out there that’s going to put people in harm’s way.”

Kennerly saw first-hand last week just what a tournament looks like with scaled back attendance and protocols in place, when he spent two days at the Phoenix Open, which was won by Jupiter’s Brooks Koepka.

Honda officials have been collaborating throughout the fall and winter with the Tour and have looked at two events in particular: The Phoenix Open and The Players Championship, which will be held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach one week before Honda.

Kennerly was in Phoenix on Feb. 3 when about 2,000 fans attended the Pro-Am. What he saw was encouraging and makes him believe these tournaments can be safely held with thousands of spectators. The PGA Tour requires fans to wear a face covering at all times while on the course — except when eating or drinking — even if no one is in close proximity.

“I was impressed people were adhering to the policy,” Kennerly said. “I was impressed people were having a good time. People were out and about. They were respecting other people’s space.

“I think our society has accepted the fact, you’re outside, you’re going to wear a face covering. There was an enormous amount of respect for COVID. There was an enormous amount of respect for the protocols that the PGA Tour and Phoenix put in place and we’re going to do the same.”

Volunteers, private security and local police will be among those monitoring the grounds during Honda. Kennerly said Honda is looking for more volunteers.

“If someone’s mask is down and they don’t have a drink in their hand or something to eat they’ll probably remind them,” Kennerly said. “If they get out of hand, then we’ll have to jump to that degree.”

Feb 29, 2020; Patrick Rodgers re-hits a shot off of the 17th hole penalty drop area after hitting his greenside bunker shot across the green and into the water during the third round of the 2020 Honda Classic golf tournament at PGA National (Champion). Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Fewer fans mean fewer stands

About 350,000 square feet of structures were built on The Champion Course grounds last year. That number will be reduced to about 125,000 square feet this year.

The Bear Trap, which winds around the 16th green and 17th tee box, will be reimagined into three sections with 350 people in blocks of two and four seats. The Bear Trap will hold 1,050 fans max this year, down from 5,000 to 6,000 in a normal year.

About half of the 10,000 fans on-site will have access to stands and structures such as the Bear Trap, Champions Club, Waterford Club, sky suites and others.

Grounds tickets for each day are $60 and are on sale at thehondaclassic.com. While some other tournaments have drastically increased prices because of the demand, Honda has added just a $5 COVID surcharge.

“We’re losing money, but we didn’t want to gouge the market because these are our friends, this is our community,” Kennerly said.

Honda raised a record $5.3 million for charity last year. Kennerly said he is hoping to raise $1.5 to $2 million this year.

Early ticket sales have been brisk, according to Kennerly. He is sure the event’s 10,000 daily ticket allotment will be sold out.

“Our numbers are going to be way down, but it’s the way of the world,” he said. “The bottom line is we’re going to have a great event with a very attractive buildout.”

Honda Classic offers Kamaiu Johnson a second chance at a PGA Tour start

‘God had other plans’ APGA Tour star Kamaiu Johnson’s turbulent week takes turn for better

APGA Tour star Kamaiu Johnson contracted COVID-19 last week, forcing him to withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open, his PGA Tour debut.

SAN DIEGO – Since mid-October, Kamaiu Johnson, a standout on the Advocates Professional Golf Association Tour, a circuit created to provide playing opportunities for minority players, has been counting down the days until he fulfilled his dream by making his PGA Tour debut in the Farmers Insurance Open.

Life, however, teed up a vicious blockade as he tested positive for COVID-19 five days before the start of the annual tournament at Torrey Pines. Then he got word his mother was rushed to a hospital in the Orlando area with breathing difficulties caused by contracting COVID-19.

But the sun came up a few days later and Johnson’s future is bright again.

His mother is trending toward a return to good health and his coming days will include playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Honda Classic, as both tournaments granted sponsor exemptions to Johnson this week.

Farmers Insurance Open: Leaderboard | Photos

“I really can’t explain the turn of events, it just happened so fast,” Johnson, 27, said Friday in a conference call with reporters. “Starting this week I thought I was going to get my first PGA Tour event this week, but God had other plans.

“I’m just so thankful for the support that I’ve gotten over these past five days. I’m thankful to AT&T and Farmers and Honda for all they are doing for me. It’s been amazing how many people have reached out to me.

“My mom is definitely trending in the right direction. The doctor said she should be able to go home on Sunday, so that’s just amazing. The good news is just absolutely amazing and it’s such a quick turnaround of events that I’m just so grateful and thankful for.

“I have a great team around me and they just told me to stay patient and honestly, good things come to those who wait. It’s amazing what’s happened in the last 48 hours, absolutely amazing.”

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Johnson has been quarantining locally and if all continues to go well, he will be able to leave his quarters on Tuesday. He has kept busy working on his game as much as one can in a hotel room. Farmers Insurance sent him some weight bands, he set up a putting mat in the room, and has been able to swing a golf club.

And other than a rough night a few nights ago, he’s been feeling great – 100 percent, he said.

“I feel absolutely back to normal, more sure,” Johnson said. “I’ve just been trying to stay active and trying to keep my body loose. It’s just absolutely a dream come true honestly to be playing on the PGA Tour at Pebble Beach; that property’s just amazing. I’ve never been on that property before, but I can only imagine what it’s going to feel like when I get there.

“I’ve been doing everything I can just to stay golf ready while in quarantine. I’m just excited, just be out there and competing against the best in the world. It’s everything I ever wanted, it’s everything I ever dreamed of and it’s everything that everyone who’s ever helped me has ever dreamed of for me.”

MORE: Diversity and golf – a younger generation responds

Johnson’s life, like this past week, has been anything but easy. He has dealt with many ups and downs throughout his life, including being homeless at times and on occasion having to sleep in his mother’s car at tournaments. He picked up the game later in life and has spent much of the past three years on golf’s backroads playing mini-tournaments and the APGA.

Last year, which included a win in the APGA Tour Championship in September, he made about $30,000 – before expenses. But his story – and personality and game – has resonated with some movers and shakers in golf. Farmers Insurance inked him to an endorsement deal for $25,000 per year for two years. A co-founder of Cambridge Mobile Telematics, Bill Powers, gave Johnson another $20,000.

This week, as a non-member of the PGA Tour, Johnson received a stipend of $2,500 this week after he tested positive.

This journey, however, is not Johnson’s alone. He fully embraces representing the APGA as he chases his PGA Tour dream.

“I think golf needs to start looking more like America looks,” Johnson said. “I think that’s just good for golf and I think that’s just good to show that we have a lot of talent. I think that we need to be ready when that opportunity comes and I think that I am ready at this time in my life and my golf career.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am for the APGA Tour. I think it’s important that we play well so that it just shows that we deserve opportunities as well.”

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Honda Classic offers Kamaiu Johnson a second chance at a PGA Tour start

Honda Classic officials will reserve a spot for Kamaiu Johnson, who withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open after a positive COVID test.

This should have been a big week for Kamaiu Johnson, an Advocates Professional Golf Tour standout who expected to be teeing it up at the Farmers Insurance Open on a sponsor’s exemption.

That came crashing down on Tuesday after Johnson tested positive for COVID-19. Johnson wrote on social media that his mother was having difficulty breathing due to the virus. He has since tweeted that she is feeling better.

Johnson’s story took a turn for the better on Thursday when Honda Classic officials announced they would reserve a spot in their South Florida event at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, for him.

“Our tournament director Andrew George and I were familiar with Kamaiu from his attempts to qualify for The Honda last year,” Honda Classic Executive Director Kenneth R. Kennerly said. “When we heard what happened to him at Farmers this week, we felt strongly that we wanted to give him a chance to play at The Honda Classic. We feel it is important to support the advancement of golfers from our home state.”

Johnson, a 27-year-old old who picked up the game later in life, has spent the bulk of his time in recent years playing professional mini-tour events and the APGA, a tour formed to create opportunities for minority players. He won the Tallahassee Open three times.

“As I said when I first learned that I would be forced to withdraw, a fork in the road often has an interesting way of leading to new opportunities,” Johnson said. “It was beyond disappointing not to be able to play at the Farmers Insurance Open after all of the support that Farmers has shown me and the APGA Tour. Now, to find out that I will still have a chance to fulfill my dream of playing on the PGA Tour is almost overwhelming. I’m so thankful for Honda and the team at The Honda Classic for taking a challenging situation and turning it into a blessing.”

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Honda Classic in March will have limited fans, socially-distanced Bear Trap

The 2021 Honda Classic plans to welcome spectators to PGA National Resort & Spa March 15-21, on a limited basis.

PALM BEACH GARDENS — The 2021 Honda Classic plans to welcome spectators to PGA National Resort & Spa March 15-21.

That was not always a given considering the on-going coronavirus pandemic and a lot can still happen in the next two months. However, with the primary focus on the health and well-being for all involved with the tournament and the local community, daily attendance will be limited. Those levels will be determined at a later date.

The Honda Classic was named the Most Fan-First event of 2019 by the PGA Tour and last year’s tournament – won by South Korea’s Sungjae Im – attracted 206,384 spectators over seven days.

The 2020 attendance mark was the second-highest in tournament history, following the 224,642 spectators who attended the event in 2018.

While attendance records will not be broken this year, tournament officials are building a unique and first-class fan experience – and those fans fortunate enough to be on site may see a stronger field.

The tournament was pushed back two weeks from its usual end of February dates. The schedule change was made in the hope that it would solve a two-year stretch of underwhelming fields. It will now follow The Players Championship and sit in the spot held by the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor the last three years.

Those who attend will see a re-imagined Bear Trap on the 17th hole with social distancing guidelines. The 18th hole footprint will be different too, but there will be fans waiting there on Sunday as usual when the new Honda champion is crowned.

“We are being conservative in our planning as we continue to navigate the pandemic,” Honda Classic Executive Director Kenneth R. Kennerly said. “We want to do everything possible to make sure that The Honda Classic will be a great experience and continue to make a significant charitable impact on the thousands of children in our community whose lives we are able to enhance every year.”

The Bear Trap, which usually winds around the 16th green and 17th hole tee box area, is being re-imagined into three sections with limited seating in socially-distanced blocks of two and four seats. Advance reservations for The Bear Trap and other shared and private hospitality areas are now being taken by email (sales@thehondaclassic.com) or by phone (561-799-4638). General admission ticket sales will begin at a later date.

More: Honda Classic awards record-setting $5.35M to South Florida charities

The traditional Pro-Am events, which benefit the tournament’s charitable endeavors, will be contested during the week, with amateur participants being tested for COVID-19 prior to those competitions.

Final details on all areas will be announced in the near future.

“With so much uncertainty across all categories of the business, we have really focused on prioritizing flexibility with our site planning,” Tournament Director Andrew George said. “We’ve worked collaboratively with our vendors to delay the start of construction. We are frequently updating our health and safety protocols as we receive new guidance or best practices. And our hospitality venues will be strategically altered to provide a first-class entertainment option while facilitating social distancing.”

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Paul Azinger Interview

Golfweek’s Steve DiMeglio chats with Paul Azinger about life in quarantine, his comments at the Honda Classic, and the first time he played with Tiger.

Eamon’s Corner: Welcome to the Florida swing, let the carnage continue

Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch discusses the challenge ahead on the Florida swing and the enjoyment fans have watching pros play difficult holes.

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One of the shared pleasures of being a golf fan is appreciating the world’s finest players hitting shots we can only dream of.

A more secret pleasure, one we don’t often talk about and in respectable company is the sheer delight seeing those same players be humbled in a way we can all relate to.

Welcome to the Florida swing.

Following Honda Classic, the 21st stop on the PGA tour schedule this season, and its infamous Bear Trap, the rest of the season’s events will do whatever it takes to stand out on the crowded calendar.

There aren’t as many holes that wreak havoc at the Arnold Palmer Invitational as there were at the Honda Classic, but the next week during the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, the carnage begins anew.

It’s not a noble sentiment, but it is what it is.

Check out the latest edition of Eamon’s Corner.

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Honda Classic moving to mid-March; hopes to attract more top-ranked golfers

The Honda Classic will move on the 2020-21 PGA Tour schedule as the Tour hopes solves a two-year stretch of underwhelming fields.

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PALM BEACH GARDENS – The Honda Classic will be moving to mid-March next year, a schedule change it hopes solves a two-year stretch of underwhelming fields.

Next year’s Honda will be held on March 18-21 at PGA National, following The Players Championship, and in the spot held by the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor the last three years.

For the last two years, Honda fell in the middle of an impressive five-week stretch that started with Tiger Woods’ Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles, the WCG-Mexico Championship and ended with the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and The Players at TPC Sawgrass.

Next year, it will follow Genesis, the WGC event, Bay Hill and The Players. Valspar is moving to late April.

“I have spoken to many players who believe that is a more favorable date for us,” Honda Classic executive director Ken Kennerly said. “While players will continue to play their favorite tournaments, we have been told that might be a better date to get back some of the players that have missed us in the past.”

Sungjae Im is presented the champions trophy by Shinji Aoiama of Honda North America after winning the 2020 Honda Classic at PGA National. (Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)

Honda can thank the calendar for the change. For the next three years, there will be one less week in the PGA Tour schedule before the Masters, forcing one tournament to be moved. With Valspar being pushed back, Honda was able to slide into the week previously occupied by Valspar.

“We know we’re confirmed for 2021,” Kennerly said. “We believe based on the consistency of the PGA Tour we should be in that date for the next three years.”

The Masters will be April 8-11 in 2021.

Honda has been affected as much as any event by the changes in the schedule the last two years – the primary culprit being the Players moving from May back to March. Many of the top players have opted to play Tiger’s tournament and the WGC event, take off Honda week, then play Bay Hill and Players.

Honda had just three of the top-20 players in the world in 2019 and six of the top 20 this year, but just one in the top 10, Jupiter’s Brooks Koepka, who entered No. 3.

The tournament then lost its three biggest names when it comes to star power for the weekend this year when Koepka, Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler missed the cut.

Rickie Fowler on the 18th green during the second round of the 2020 Honda Classic at PGA National. (Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)

“Any top 10 player in the world would play in any of those five events,” 2019 Honda champion Keith Mitchell said before the tournament. “But, it’s impossible to play five events in a row and perform your best, physically and mentally. It’s just really tough, especially if your competing and coming down the stretch in contention It’s just very draining.

“It’s just a tough time of year for guys and our schedule because of all the quality fields.”

Next year, Bay Hill will be the middle event of that five-week stretch.

This year’s Honda, won by South Korean Sungjae Im, was notable for the names not in the field.

The disappointment was five of the top-10 golfers in the world who have homes a short distance from the course skipped the tournament: No. 1 Rory McIlroy (Jupiter), No. 4 Justin Thomas (Jupiter), No. 5 Dustin Johnson (Palm Beach Gardens), No. 7 Patrick Cantlay (North Palm Beach) and No. 9 Woods (Jupiter Island). The schedule is the primary reason, although Woods continues to deal with back stiffness (he is not playing this week at Bay Hill) and Cantlay is taking off time for a medical procedure.

Following Honda in the schedule next year will be WGC-Match Play in Austin, Texas, the Texas Open in San Antonio and the Masters.

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In first PGA Tour caddie gig, Albin Choi guides Sungjae Im to Honda Classic title

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Before this week, Jupiter’s Albin Choi had never served as a caddie on the PGA Tour. No problem. The 27-year-old guided South Korea’s Sungjae Im to victory Sunday in the Honda Classic at PGA National. A regular on the Korn …

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Before this week, Jupiter’s Albin Choi had never served as a caddie on the PGA Tour. No problem. The 27-year-old guided South Korea’s Sungjae Im to victory Sunday in the Honda Classic at PGA National.

A regular on the Korn Ferry Tour for the last four years, Choi is figuring out what he wants to do next after a disappointing 2019. For the last four months, he’s been working at Old Palm Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens.

So when Im called him after the Genesis Invitational to ask if he could be on his bag for the Honda, Choi accepted.

“I know he’s had some language barriers with other caddies in the past,” Choi said of Im. “I just felt like we communicate better and being a player myself and having played the golf course a lot of times, he wanted someone on the bag with a little bit of experience.”

Honda Classic: Photos | Updates | Leaderboard | Money

Although Choi was born in Surrey, British Columbia and grew up in Toronto, he speaks Korean and served as Im’s translator Sunday.

Around the time Choi moved to Jupiter, Florida, three years ago, he got to know Im. At the time, Im was also playing on the Korn Ferry Tour, with the two meeting at the final stage of qualifying in Arizona.

“As the year progressed, we kind of became closer and closer and when he moved on to the PGA Tour, we kind of just kept in touch,” said Choi, who won the 2010 Canadian Men’s Amateur championship.

Choi has appeared in five Tour events, all at the RBC Canadian Open and attended the 2018 Honda Classic as a spectator. He also has played PGA National numerous times; it was actually where Choi earned his Korn Ferry Tour playing card.

“I know how hard it is to kind of navigate your way through this golf course, just with the pressure of the tournament on the line, and just playing here a bunch,” Choi said. “I just felt like the experience kind of helped me out today and just from a player standpoint, I kind of knew what he was feeling at certain times.

“I felt like I could draw upon my experiences to help him out today and kind of keep his head in the right place.”

Im wasn’t the only familiar face Choi saw on the course Sunday. Im’s playing partner was Mackenzie Hughes, the 2011 and 2012 Canadian Men’s Amateur champion.

Choi was a groomsman in Hughes’ wedding and the two roomed together when playing on the Korn Ferry Tour. So Choi was rooting for both players down the stretch Sunday, even when Hughes made a birdie on 17th to temporarily tie Im for the lead at 5 under.

“After he made that putt on 17, I gave him a fist pump,” Choi said. “Him and I are super close.”

Im then made a birdie of his own at 17th to take the lead for good. Still, Hughes finished second Sunday, his best finish on the Tour since March 31, 2019.

“It was nice to see him play well this week,” Choi said.

With Choi sporting a perfect record as a caddie on the Tour, will this relationship continue going forward?

It’s too early to say, though Choi expressed interest.

“I told him as long as (it’s during) this time that I’m not playing, I would love to,” Choi said. “I know he’s been bouncing around doing a few (caddies), so we’ll see. It’s kind of up in the air.”

Choi certainly will cherish Sunday’s experience. While he was the caddie, he learned plenty from watching Im play.

“When you’re watching from the outside, you see a lot more,” Choi said. “When I come here as a player, it’s a little different. I definitely noticed more things from the outside, of how guys compose themselves and certain things here and there, just in general.

“I just thought that was a good learning experience for me, too. Getting a front-row seat to what it takes to win a PGA Tour event. It’s not something you come across every day.”

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