Few PGA Tour events have been friendlier to the Irish than the one formerly known as the Honda Classic. The Japanese automotive company opted to end their 41-year association with the tournament and Cognizant, a US-based IT Services and consulting company have taken up the reigns.
Padraig Harrington is a two-time winner, capturing his first PGA Tour title in 2005 when it was held at nearby Mirasol Country Club, and then doubled up a decade later, turning back the clock to win his sixth and – for now at least – final PGA Tour event.
The three-time major winner made his first PGA Tour start of the season at last week’s Mexico Open, safely making the cut but failing to gain any ground over the weekend, but the happy memories and the traditionally tough setup at PGA National could play into his hands once again as he continues to retain hope of a seventh PGA Tour win and an invite to Augusta National in six weeks’ time.
Rory McIlroy won here in 2012, ascending to the world number one ranking in the process, becoming the first Irish-born player to ever top the standings. Despite living nearby, it’s an event he’s seldom played since, but finished runner-up to Russell Henley in 2014 and is the standout big-name star in the field this week.
And after a rather disappointing sojourn on the west coast, McIlroy will be delighted to be back on something close to home soil, back on his favoured Bermuda turf and badly in need of a morale-boosting week after average showings at both the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational at Riviera.
Shane Lowry, who completes the Irish trio in action this week, may not have won but he’s come very close, finishing fifth last year and being undone by an untimely, biblical rain shower while standing on the 72nd tee the year prior.
“Yeah, I do like golf where if you break 70 you’re pretty happy with yourself,” Lowry said after finding himself well placed after 36 holes in last year’s tournament, and he performed well for three of the four rounds at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on his last outing which is now almost three weeks ago. Lowry has no Masters invite worries, remaining exempt through his 2019 Open Championship victory, but that exemption runs out this year, but the gentle slide down the world rankings is concerning and, not being exempt into the PGA Tour Signature Events, needs to start making the most of weeks like these.
The Champion course at PGA National is one of the toughest non-major tests that the players face all year. In the previous 14 editions, the winning score has reached double-figures under par on just six occasions, and on three of those, the champion was the only player to come close. This year, the 10th hole has been lengthened, turning it from a par-4 to a relatively short par-5 so scoring, on average, can be expected to be a little lower than usual, but rain forecast on Friday along with 25kph winds will make things tricky and a fast start on Thursday could be key to victory.
The signature holes are the stretch from 15 through 17 which is known as “The Bear Trap,” with two tough par-3s bookending the trap, before a risk/reward par-5 where anything from a three to an eight will be posted.
The golf course is always tough, but the true severity of the test here is always provided by the weather. Prone to strong winds, luck of the draw often comes into play here, and early forecasts suggest that players are in for difficult conditions this week.
Past winners of the event include genuine world stars like Rory McIroy, Justin Thomas, Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler, but also less heralded players such as Chris Kirk, Sepp Straka, Michael Thompson, Russell Henley, Rory Sabbatini and Keith Mitchell, as well as an out-of-the-blue victory for Harrington in 2015. In short, it’s very much a mixed bag.
Kirk is the defending champion, and though he’s gone on to win one of the Signature Events since, the win last year came as something of a surprise and ended an eight-year winless drought.
Irish viewers are in for a treat on Thursday afternoon as both McIlroy and Lowry will feature on Sky Sports’ PGA Tour Live coverage, with the world number two joining Kirk and last week’s winner Jake Knapp in the marquee grouping who will tee off at 12:40 Irish time, with Lowry paired with Matthieu Pavon and Camilo Villegas and they’ll get underway 11 minutes earlier at 12:29.
Harrington will begin round one in the later wave in the company of Australian Aaron Baddeley and American Justin Lower as they are due on the tee at 18:02.
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