PGA Preview: The Honda Classic
Course: PGA National Resort & Spa — Champion Course
Par: 70
Defending Champion: Adam Scott
The west coast stretch is over and the Florida swing is officially here. We kick things off in the sunshine state with a pretty solid field at PGA National this week.
Adam Scott, Justin Thomas, and Sergio Garcia are the three highest ranked golfers in the tournament (based on the OWGR) and interestingly enough they all finished in the top three at last year’s tournament. Scott took home a one stroke victory over Garcia last year and Thomas finished T3 with Blayne Barber, four strokes back of the victorious Aussie.
Who To Watch:
Adam Scott
The defending champ is coming off an overall solid week at Riviera last week and has been in good form all season. In three PGA Tour starts, Scott has made the cut in all of them and has finished no lower than 14th place. He has yet to finish higher than 10th place, which is a little surprising for the Aussie, but he has been playing some good golf thus far in the 2016–17 schedule. Scott has been par or better in 11 of his 12 rounds this season and has a scoring average of 69.1. It’s only a matter of time before he puts in all together and finds himself atop the leaderboard in 2017.
Thomas Pieters
Pieters is working on getting his special temporary PGA Tour status and great golf is the only way he can get that done. With a final round 63 at Riviera last week Pieters helped his cause and finished T2 at the Genesis Open. The Belgian is motivated to get that temporary status and will come out flying at the Honda Classic this week. With his showing last week at the Genesis Open and his showing at the Ryder Cup last October, Pieters has proved that he is a legitimate contender in the game of golf. A solid week is what lies ahead for Pieters, actually, make that a solid year.
Rickie Fowler
Fowler struggled last season after a big year in 2015. Things have been different at the start of thr 2016–17 slate. Despite a missed cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, Rickie has finished in the top-10 at both of his appearances at official PGA events, including a 4th place finish at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He also finished in 3rd place at the Hero World Challenge, which is not an official PGA Tour event. Fowler has a lot to prove this season and the Honda Classic is a great place for him to start showing people he can be a champion. He’s coming off four rounds in the 60’s at the WMPO and will be looking to continue that good play at a course he knows really well.
Justin Thomas
Thomas has cooled off significantly since his red hot start to the season. After back to back victories in Hawaii, Thomas has a missed cut and a 39th place finish. However, we can’t turn our heads on the fact that Thomas has already found the winners circle three times this season. He had a T3 finish here last season and if he can find his groove from earlier this season, there’s no doubt that he will be a contender again at the 2017 tournament.
Russell Knox
Knox finished 26th in last year’s tournament but in his previous two outings at PGA National he finished 3rd and T2. He has had some success at the Honda Classic and will be looking to find some more this week. After a solid campaign last season, Knox hasn’t been in the greatest form to start the 2016–17 campaign. That’s not to say he’s been bad though. In six appearances he’s made the cut in five and has three top-10 finishes. He just hasn't been much of a contender in any of his starts this season. A victory at the Honda Classic is exactly what the Knox is looking for to really get his season rolling in the right direction.
My pick:
Russell Knox — Like I said, he’s had some great finishes at PGA National in the past and this feels like the year he gets it done. He’s upset that he didn’t make the 2016 European Ryder Cup team and will be looking to make sure he makes the 2018 team. A victory here starts to get the ball rolling on that happening.
