Schedule changes look of Honda field
Just 3 in top 20 playing this week
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – In 2014, the Honda Classic attracted each of the top eight players in the world rankings: Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Rory McIlory, Zach Johnson, Sergio Garcia.
It was a monumental achievement for a tournament that struggled for two decades to find a home and any cachet on the PGA Tour. It placed it on par with the majors and the World Golf Championships, vaulting the Honda Classic into the upper echelon of Tour events. It has set a charitable distribution record for 12 consecutive years and attendance marks the last three years.
But things change quickly in professional golf.
When the 46th Honda Classic starts Thursday at PGA National, it will include just three of the top 20 players in the world rankings.
And those three — No. 3 Justin Thomas, the defending champion; No. 4 Brooks Koepka, a three-time major champion; and No 9 Rickie Fowler, the 2017 champion — all live within 10 miles of the Champion Course. It would have been hard for them to pass up a rare home game as a professional golfer.
Tiger Woods (No. 12), the biggest draw in professional sports, chose to skip his hometown event. So did 2012 champion Rory McIlroy (No. 6), each citing the PGA Tour’s new, condensed schedule as their reason.
With the Masters so important for both players — Woods desperately wants to end his decade-long majorless streak, and McIlroy wants to complete the career Grand Slam — neither was going to play five consecutive weeks. They each had played the last two weeks, with Arnold’s Palmer event next week and The Players next after its switch from May to March.
For Woods, it was a decision he had to make.
“Honda’s home for me,” Woods said the day before he announced he was skipping his hometown event. “Then there’s a tournament that I’ve won eight times (the Arnold Palmer Invitational). Then another event that I’ve won a couple times (The Players). Then the week after that is where I had an unbelievable week last year (Valspar Championship, where he finished second).
“So it gets very complicated. At the end of the day (it’s about) being raceready for April (Masters) and making sure I get enough competitive rounds.”
No PGA Tour event got hurt more by the new schedule than the Honda Classic. It didn’t matter Honda is the longest-running sponsor on the PGA Tour (since 1982).
Ken Kennerly, Honda Classic’s executive director, cried when Woods announced he would play in his event the first time in 2012. No doubt Kennerly has had different emotions the last few weeks.
“We understand the challenges of the new schedule,” Kennerly said. “We will have a great event featuring two of the top four players in the world in our defending champion Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka.”
Losing Woods will cost the tournament an estimated $1 million in corporate sales, admissions, concessions and TV ratings. But there are 144 players in the field, and the Champion Course, with its vaunted Bear Trap (holes 15-17), remains one of the most entertaining venues in professional golf. The par-3 17th hole was the third hardest on the PGA Tour last year, averaging more than a half-stroke over par. The 15th hole was ninth-most difficult (3.391).
The Champion Course was the second-toughest on the Tour last season, averaging almost 2½ strokes over its par of 70. The only one tougher was, predictably, the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
There are some, however, who believe the Champion Course has become too tough, with its penal rough and tight fairways. Another prominent local, Dustin Johnson, just outside world No. 1 by percentage points, has played Honda just once since 2008, missing the cut by eight shots in 2015.
No PGA Tour event is going to get all of the top players. The Honda Classic has gotten its share since the tournament moved to PGA National in 2007 and Jack and Barbara Nicklaus’ children’s health care foundation became the primary beneficiary. Nicklaus said he won’t ask players to enter here or at his Memorial Tournament in Ohio, just as he didn’t want to be asked when he dominated for 20 years.