Honda Classic: Koepka among Florida favourites

Big names missing

The PGA Tour goes coast-to-coast as we switch from California to Florida for the Honda Classic at PGA National, which includes the infamous stretch of holes known as The Bear Trap. 

Being the first event of the ‘Florida Swing’, many of the world’s top players are skipping this one – perhaps due to the travel aspect and the quick turnaround, or maybe due to the fearsome 15th, 16th and 17th holes here known as The Bear Trap. 

This nerve-jangling trio include two par-threes and a par-four absolutely surrounded by water and nastily placed just before the end of your round by the legendary Jack Nicklaus, who the Bear Trap is named after following his redesign of the original Tom Fazio track in 1990. 

Even having $8million up for grabs and $1.4m to the winner seemingly isn’t enough to entice some of the top golfers in the world to take this on, with just 12 of the top 50 teeing it up this week. 

Aussie Jones back to defend title 

Matt Jones will most certainly be back to defend the title he won in record style last year at Palm Beach Gardens. The Aussie’s first title in seven years saw him equal the course record of 61 in his first round and win by a joint-record five strokes – only Nicklaus and Camillo Villegas can match that. 

Jones is a 55 shot to defend and conquer the Bear Trap that can so often destroy a round. It’s one of the toughest stretches on Tour and last season played 230 over par across the field – while 1,604 golf balls have found a watery grave around these three holes since 2007. 

Water is very much a theme here with the wet stuff in play on 16 holes so you have to be accurate, but also confident enough to shake it off when the inevitable splashdown happens.  

Success around the Bear Trap isn’t everything around here though – just ask Russell Knox who leads the PGA Tour with his six-under career mark around that stretch, yet has missed the cut at the Honda Classic in four of the last five. 

Brooks Koepka is the big name in the field here as he looks to find some consistency after a T3 in Phoenix, but a missed cut at Riviera last week. He’s a Florida native and finished second here in 2016 so is naturally among the front-runners in the market as a 25 chance. 

2020 Honda Classic champion Sungjae Im leads the betting on 14.5 with Daniel Berger on 19 after finishing T4 here in 2020 and a runner-up in 2015 in his rookie season on Tour. 

Tommy Fleetwood came close to victory at the PGA National in 2020

European names and Niemann in the field 

Fresh from his scintillating wire-to-wire win at the Genesis, Joaquin Niemann will have plenty of followers and the 23-year-old will also have plenty of confidence in a field with far less quality than the one he’s just dominated. 

It’s a long flight though and always tough to produce huge performances in back-to-back weeks on Tour, so although the Chilean should add to his title tally, back him here at 22 with caution. 

We’ll see plenty of familiar European Ryder Cup faces making their first PGA Tour starts of 2022 with Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Shane Lowry, and Danny Willett all in attendance. 

Fleetwood looks the pick at 30 after he narrowly lost out in 2020 when finding water on the final hole, while Lowry is 38 after getting into contention here last year but fading at the weekend. 

That’s a theme for Lowry who has shot four rounds in the 60s here in his last two first and second rounds, but didn't break 70 in the four weekend rounds.  

And for an outsider from the European contingent, what about 20-year-old Danish talent Nicolai Hojgaard, who has already won twice on the DP World Tour and is a serious talent for the future?

Making his PGA Tour debut here on a sponsor exemption, Hojgaard has a free hit really and at odds of 90 he’s being taken seriously for someone so young and inexperienced – with his price shorter than the likes of Westwood and Poulter for this one.