Revved up for Honda Classic
Top talent eager to start honing game for Augusta National
“After three weeks I kind of felt like I needed to start swinging again and started to get the itch ...”
— Adam Scott
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — The PGA Tour season began five months ago. The new year is two months old.
And yet there’s something about the Honda Classic that makes Tiger Woods and a collection of stars feel as though it’s all about to get underway.
“I think once we get to Florida, I think we’re all thinking about our way to Augusta,” Woods said.
Six tournaments remaining before the Masters, the first major of the year, and this is now serious business. It shows in the strength of the field at PGA National, with seven of the top 10 players from the world ranking.
The last time Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott competed in the same tournament was the BMW Championship near Chicago last summer.
That’s how it was a generation ago, when some of golf’s top players either rested or played overseas early in the season, then showed up in tropical conditions at Doral to start the official road to Augusta National.
Woods has plenty of work to do based on his early performance — a missed 54-hole cut at Torrey Pines in his lone PGA Tour start this year, followed by a dismal performance by his standards at the Dubai Desert Classic, where he tied for 41st.
He conceded that he spent most of his winter break working on his body instead of his golf.
Since returning from overseas earlier this month, Woods said he has spent most of his time working on his short game.
Woods isn’t the only player coming off a substantial break.
Scott, the defending champion at Augusta, hasn’t competed since the Sony Open in Honolulu.
He spent the following week on the Big Island, surfing and playing a few casual rounds with his buddies, then killed time on the couch or doing anything not related to golf until it was time to get back to work.
He plans to play three of the next four tournaments.
“After three weeks I kind of felt like I needed to start swinging again and started to get the itch, but I think I timed it pretty well because I’ve had a nice couple weeks of intense practice before getting here and a week of playing with some mates before that,” Scott said.
“I feel like I’ve had a nice preparation, but this is a very tough test and it’s probably not the ideal one to float back in off after an extended break.”
Michael Thompson won last year’s Honda Classic at 9-under 271.