Gary Woodland took a page out of Henrik Stenson’s playbook and took off his pants to hit a shot from the water on the par-4 6th hole at PGA National during the final round of the Honda Classic.
Luckily (for us), Woodland is a boxer guy.
I feel like this is a redux to the Super Bowl a few weeks ago, where everyone is likely watching the Oscars or having Sunday Fun Day and doesn’t really care about golf in February. Maybe? Maybe not? Okay, well, it wasn’t quite as exhilarating of a finish (or meltdown) as it was three Sundays ago, but it was a hard-fought, well-deserved victory by Adam Scott, who held off Sergio Garcia by a shot and posted a final-round even-par 70 to win for the first time since September 2014.
Tiger Woods told the world earlier this week that his rehab from back surgery was “progressing nicely.” Jack Nicklaus, who hosted potential U.S. Ryder Cup team members at his home on Thursday evening, echoed what others who were present have said about Woods — he looks good.
The Bear Trap, the stretch of three consecutive holes nos. 15-17 at PGA National, can get the best of players. We saw what happened to 54-hole co-leader Adam Scott on Saturday afternoon. I’m sure there were quite a few victims of those holes on Sunday, but the twosome of Smylie Kaufman and Shane Lowry were likely the most errrr…entertaining of them all on the par-3 15th. Just watch:
Rickie Fowler is arguably the hottest player in the world over the last two months. Heading into the Honda Classic, he finished fifth at Kapalua in January and then lost in a heart-wrenching, emotional playoff against Hideki Matsuyama at the Phoenix Open for runner-up honors. He also won with an extremely strong field at the European Tour’s Abu Dhabi Championship in between that time. Well, he’s in contention again going into the weekend.
Fowler shot a second consecutive bogey-free 66 to take the early clubhouse lead on Friday at PGA National — so far, it looks like his lead will probably hold through the end of the day.
Sergio Garcia easily wins round one of the Honda Classic. In blustery, difficult conditions on Thursday at PGA National, Garcia managed to fire an impressive five-under 65 to take a share of the lead with Michael Thompson.
The course was certainly not giving up shots easily, but conditions actually calmed quite a bit late afternoon, so some players took advantage of the tamer weather. But PGA National sure showed its teeth in the morning, with the lowest scores posted being three-under 70 by George McNeil, David Lingmerth and Shane Lowry, who had a thrilling eagle to get there on the 18th.
It’s been a strange day, but not to worry, there’s plenty to report from Wednesday at the Honda Classic. I guess pro-am days are always kind of weird and things are rather hectic, and with so many players who live here, it seems like a lot of guys went to their private, super sick clubs to practice because the range was pretty dead today.
I have some fantastic tidbits on Jeff Knox, the Augusta National club champion who often plays as a marker during the tournament, but — this is mean for me to bring it up and then do this — I can’t share them because they’re for a story for a different publication. But I will say this: More than one player told me that Knox is by far the best putter in the world on Augusta’s greens.
Greetings from PGA National this rainy Tuesday evening! Honestly, it was a relatively uneventful day — but that doesn’t mean you should stop reading because I still have a few fun tidbits of info — because it rained all morning and then again in the late afternoon, so not that many guys were around. The “big” names, aka Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson, won’t show up until tomorrow when they have to play in the pro-am and do their pre-media requirements.
Perhaps it’s just me, but it didn’t feel like a “normal” Tuesday, where there’s more hustle and bustle out in the practice areas and more guys to shoot the shit with. I guess it’s been a pseudo-quiet day, but here’s what you need to know from today… Oh wait, we should probably discuss the Tiger Woods news that took a life of its own as I was flying across the country yesterday.
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