The PGA Tour heads to Florida this week for the The Honda Classic, where Tiger Woods will make his third start of the season.
After finishing t23 at Torrey Pines, Woods struggled at Riviera, ultimately missing the cut. Woods will play alongside Brandt Snedeker and Patton Kizzire this week, as he tries to regain his old form after four back surgeries since 2014.
Once considered one of the PGA Tour's weaker events, The Honda Classic now annually boasts an elite international field. With a strong European Tour contingent joining up with some of the PGA Tour's best, this week should be interesting.
The Course
PGA National is considered one of the most difficult venues on the PGA Tour's annual slate. The famed "Bear Trap" makes up a three-hole stretch (15-17) on the back nine with water hazards caressing every inch of the stretch. Holes 15 and 17 are considered among the most difficult par 3s on Tour.
Players who survive the Bear Trap get light at the end of the tunnel with the reachable par-5 18th, which has provided some fireworks in recent seasons.
Defending Champion
Rickie Fowler didn't have his best stuff Sunday last year, but he did enough to secure his fourth PGA Tour victory. Ranked seventh in the world, Fowler has racked up nine top-5 finishes since last year's win.
A celebration to remember.@RickieFowler picked up his fourth TOUR win at last year's @TheHondaClassic. pic.twitter.com/HXosRfMtTP
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 21, 2018
The Favorites
Fowler, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas enter the week as the most obvious favorites, and all three have displayed solid form to start the season, and all three have faired well at this event. McIlroy won here in 2012 and lost in a playoff in 2014. Thomas finished t3 here in 2016.
Sergio Garcia is also making his PGA Tour season debut (he recently won on the Asian Tour) as he starts his road to defending his title at Augusta National.
Tommy Fleetwood and Gary Woodland (recent winner of Phoenix Open) are also two players in fine form ready to contend this week.
Sleepers
Englishman Tyrell Hatton, ranked 15th in the world, has 10 straight top-19 finishes worldwide including two wins. He finished t4 here last year in his Honda debut, and he looks poised for a repeat performance.
Patrick Reed and Thomas Pieters have been quiet recently, but the two 2016 Ryder Cup stars have the games to break out and contend any week.
Tee Times
| Thursday Hole No. 1/ Friday Hole No. 10 |
| 6:45 a.m./11:35 a.m.: Tom Hoge, John Peterson, Martin Piller |
| 6:55 a.m./11:45 a.m.: J.J. Henry, Troy Merritt, Sung Kang |
| 7:05 a.m./11:55 a.m.: Matt Every, Ryan Blaum, Dominic Bozzelli |
| 7:15 a.m./12:05 p.m.: Brian Harman, Wesley Bryan, Chris Kirk |
| 7:25 a.m./12:15 p.m.: Ted Potter, Jr., Emiliano Grillo, Tyrrell Hatton |
| 7:35 a.m./12:25 p.m.: Jason Dufner, Brian Stuard, Shane Lowry |
| 7:45 a.m./12:35 p.m.: Fabian Gomez, Nick Watney, Rafa Cabrera Bello |
| 7:55 a.m./12:45 p.m.: Hudson Swafford, Jimmy Walker, Smylie Kaufman |
| 8:05 a.m./12:55 p.m.: Robert Streb, Jamie Lovemark, Talor Gooch |
| 8:15 a.m./1:05 p.m.: Martin Flores, Ollie Schniederjans, Aaron Wise |
| 8:25 a.m./1:15 p.m.: Jonathan Randolph, Xinjun Zhang, Denny McCarthy |
| 8:35 a.m./1:25 p.m.: Brice Garnett, Lanto Griffin, Nate Lashley |
| 11:35 a.m./6:45 a.m.: Danny Lee, Luke List, Thomas Pieters |
| 11:45 a.m./6:55 a.m.: Scott Piercy, John Huh, Anirban Lahiri |
| 11:55 a.m./7:05 a.m.: Harris English, Robert Garrigus, Byeong Hun An |
| 12:05 p.m./7:15 a.m.: Ryan Armour, Billy Horschel, Webb Simpson |
| 12:15 p.m./7:25 a.m.: Greg Chalmers, William McGirt, Luke Donald |
| 12:25 p.m./7:35 a.m.: Kevin Kisner, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed |
| 12:35 p.m./7:45 a.m.: Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Padraig Harrington |
| 12:45 p.m./7:55 a.m.: Alex Cejka, Tyrone Van Aswegen, Kelly Kraft |
| 12:55 p.m./8:05 a.m.: Shawn Stefani, Derek Fathauer, Michael Kim |
| 1:05 p.m./8:15 a.m.: Ben Martin, Bob Estes, Jon Curran |
| 1:15 p.m./8:25 a.m.: Abraham Ancer, Keith Mitchell, Andrew Novak |
| 1:25 p.m./8:35 a.m.: Stephan Jaeger, Corey Conners, Jhared Hack |
| Thursday Hole No. 10/ Friday Hole No. 1 |
| 6:45 a.m./11:35 a.m.: Camilo Villegas, Morgan Hoffmann, Peter Uihlein |
| 6:55 a.m./11:45 a.m.: Michael Thompson, Ian Poulter, Cameron Tringale |
| 7:05 a.m./11:55 a.m.: Lucas Glover, Andrew Landry, Dylan Frittelli |
| 7:15 a.m./12:05 p.m.: Jim Furyk, Martin Kaymer, Stewart Cink |
| 7:25 a.m./12:15 p.m.: Vaughn Taylor, Graeme McDowell, Peter Malnati |
| 7:35 a.m./12:25 p.m.: Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger, Sergio Garcia |
| 7:45 a.m./12:35 p.m.: Patton Kizzire, Brandt Snedeker, Tiger Woods |
| 7:55 a.m./12:45 p.m.: Gary Woodland, Alex Noren, Tommy Fleetwood |
| 8:05 a.m./12:55 p.m.: Scott Stallings, Chad Campbell, Blayne Barber |
| 8:15 a.m./1:05 p.m.: Sean O’Hair, Retief Goosen, Kevin Tway |
| 8:25 a.m./1:15 p.m.: Ben Silverman, Tyler Duncan, Tom Lovelady |
| 8:35 a.m./1:25 p.m.: Nicholas Lindheim, Joel Dahmen, Sam Burns |
| 11:35 a.m./6:45 a.m.: Chesson Hadley, Ryan Palmer, Bud Cauley |
| 11:45 a.m./6:55 a.m.: J.J. Spaun, Richy Werenski, Kiradech Aphibarnrat |
| 11:55 a.m./7:05 a.m.: J.B. Holmes, Scott Brown, Patrick Rodgers |
| 12:05 p.m./7:15 a.m.: Mackenzie Hughes, Cody Gribble, Billy Hurley III |
| 12:15 p.m./7:25 a.m.: Russell Knox, Brian Gay, Charles Howell III |
| 12:25 p.m./7:35 a.m.: Jhonattan Vegas, Russell Henley, Ryan Moore |
| 12:35 p.m./7:45 a.m.: Chris Stroud, Grayson Murray, Louis Oosthuizen |
| 12:45 p.m./7:55 a.m.: David Lingmerth, Rory Sabbatini, Harold Varner III |
| 12:55 p.m./8:05 a.m.: Ben Crane, Keegan Bradley, C.T. Pan |
| 1:05 p.m./8:15 a.m.: Sam Saunders, Bronson Burgoon, Bernd Wiesberger |
| 1:15 p.m./8:25 a.m.: Rob Oppenheim, Andrew Putnam, Andrew Filbert |
| 1:25 p.m./8:35 a.m.: Seamus Power, Adam Schenk, T.J. Vogel |