Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Hoffman dealing with more than a challenging golf course
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Amid Tiger Mania and a top-heavy leaderboard, it would have been easy to overlook the best story of Thursday’s first round of the Honda Classic.
Morgan Hoffmann, one shot off the lead, is quietly contending with a much greater challenge than wind, water or anything his fellow pros can throw at him.
The Jupiter resident revealed in December in a stunning first-person account in The Players’ Tribune that in late 2016 he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, an incurable disease. He titled the essay, “So Damn Lucky.”
“I’m still playing on the PGA Tour with a disease, and it’s pretty cool. I’m very lucky,” he said after his best round in three months.
Hoffmann was certainly a surprise in a five-way tie for second place that included Plantation native Daniel Berger and reigning PGA Player of the Year Justin Thomas, after shooting a 3-under-par 67 at PGA National.
Webb Simpson and veteran Swedish pro Alex Noren were tied for the lead at 4 under. Tiger Woods shot even-par 70 in his first appearance on the Champion Course since withdrawing with a back injury in 2014.
Hoffmann has missed the cut in five consecutive tournaments, and last week withdrew after one round in Los Angeles. He said recent poor play is more indicative of adjustments he’s making to his game than physical factors he started noticing in 2011 with deterioration in his right pectoral muscle.
“I’ve lost a lot of speed in my swing, but my swing is still there,’ Hoffmann said. “It’s not like it’s really killing my golf game. This isn’t the reason for the last missed cuts. I’ve been working on a lot of things.”
The blustery conditions were typical of this tournament. The patchy greens were trickier than usual due to recent dry conditions.
“Definitely it was different, like playing a British Open,” said Woods, who nonetheless turned in his strongest round in his fourth tournament since returning from back fusion surgery. “The ball is moving on the greens with the wind, and we’re going to have to allow for sometimes even half a cup or a cup.”
Players still out late in the afternoon benefited when the wind subsided. Mackenzie Hughes took advantage in shooting a 30 on his final nine despite ending with a bogey. He had a run of six birdies in seven holes.
That enabled the Canadian to join the logjam at 3 under, another surprising development. Hughes has missed the cut in all eight tournaments he has played this season.
Berger, who now lives in Jupiter, had a bogey-free round for a good start in quest of a home-tournament win that just eluded him as a rookie in 2015. He lost that one in a playoff to Padraig Harrington and has missed the cut in two tries since.
A sizable crowd was out early to watch Woods, starting on No. 10, birdie two of his first four holes.
Unlike last week at the Genesis Open, when he couldn’t get the speed right on his putts and missed the cut, Woods’ touch was perfect when he dropped in a 20-footer for his first birdie on No. 11. He saved par on the next hole after his tee shot strayed left and ended up behind a hot pretzel and frozen lemonade stand.
His round diverged above par with a double-bogey 7 on No. 3 after visiting a bunker to the left of the green and botching the recovery. His 3 ½-foot putt rolled 5 ½ feet past the hole. But that was his only bad hole.
Woods joined other players in wearing a maroon ribbon pinned to his cap in tribute to the victims in last week’s shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High.
Hoffmann, in a battle for his own life, has taken up the fight against muscular dystrophy on a larger scale through a charitable foundation he created. A title run this week would aid the cause and his own outlook.
“I love being out here and I love playing on the PGA Tour, and that’s my dream,” Hoffmann said. “And to help people ultimately is my goal. I think I can do really special things with this platform.”