2015 The Honda Classic Discussion Thread

[Silent]

Record Field Set For The Honda Classic

Quote:

The field for the 2015 Honda Classic is the best in the modern day history of the tournament.

Sixteen of the top 25 players in the world have entered the February 23-March 1 PGA TOUR event at PGA National Resort & Spa. The previous best field was in 2014 when 13 of the top 25 were entered.

The list includes world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia (7), Justin Rose (8), U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer (11), Rickie Fowler (12) Hideki Matsuyama (14), Patrick Reed (15), Victor Dubuisson (16), Billy Horschel (17), Phil Mickelson (18), Brooks Koepka (19), Graeme McDowell (20), Dustin Johnson (21), Zach Johnson (22), Chris Kirk (23), and Jamie Donaldson (25).

Other top 50 players in the field are Lee Westwood (27), Ryan Palmer (29), Charl Schwartzel (30), Stephen Gallacher (32), Joost Luiten (34), Ian Poulter (35), Keegan Bradley (37), Thomas Bjorn (44), Luke Donald (46), Louis Oosthuizen (47), Marc Leishman and and Jason Dufner (tied for 49).

http://www.thehondaclassic.com/media/news/record-setting-2015-field.php

[Crim]

I'm so psyched for this tournament..

also apparently Hideki M. has just withdrawn due to pain in left wrist that he doesn't want to further injure before WGC & Masters.

[skydog]

I like watching the west coast events some but I love when the tour comes back east. The southern swing is my favorite stretch of the season. Should be a fun week with a great field.

[mvmac]

@JetFan1983 is there right now and will be posting some pics and video later.

[Club Rat]

I like watching the west coast events some but I love when the tour comes back east. The southern swing is my favorite stretch of the season. Should be a fun week with a great field.

I agree, the tour is off to a great start this year.

Here's to another great classic, "The Honda"

Going left to right, the PGA Tour leaves the West Coast behind (at least until the WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship in late April) and heads to its Florida swing. First stop, the Honda Classic, which not too long ago was a tournament without a home or an enthusiastic following. Only seven of the world’s top 25 ranked players were there in 2007 when the Honda Classic debuted at PGA National, the tournament’s seventh home since it came on board in 1972.

Things have changed in a big way, however, because when this year’s tournament gets under way Thursday, 15 of the top 25 in the world rankings will be on hand.

That’s an improvement from last year when the tournament attracted 11 of the top 25 and had a strength-of-field rating of 494, third-highest of those not labeled majors, WGCs, or FedEx Cup playoffs. Only The Players Championship (771) and the Memorial (541) were ahead of the 2014 Honda Classic in this category. (Shell Houston Open, 461, and Arnold Palmer Invitational, 406, were next)

That bodes well for this year’s version to again rank as one of the strongest fields, but here’s the thing about tournaments that have top-heavy fields: It’s remarkable how they produce surprising winners.

With Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 9 on hand last year (Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, and Sergio Garcia, respectively), who won the Honda? No. 110, Russell Henley, beating Nos. 77 (Ryan Palmer) and 206 (Russell Knox) – along with McIlroy – in a four-way playoff.

The other top-heavy non-major, non-WGC, non-FedEx Cup playoff tournaments also produced winners from further down in the rankings. Martin Kaymer was 61st when he won The Players, Matt Jones No. 99 when he won in Houston and Matt Every 94th when he won at Bay Hill.

The Memorial went against the grain, as No. 24 Hideki Matsuyama prevailed.

Strong as the Honda field may be, this is not like a week at Riviera or Pebble Beach, where praise for the golf course overflows. PGA National is not an attractive proposition to everyone, which is why some notable absences are forthcoming – Nos. 2, 3, 4 in the world order, for instance.

Second-ranked Bubba Watson played the Honda in 2010, finished T-56, and hasn’t been back since. Third-ranked Henrik Stenson was T-43 and T-21 in his first two tries at PGA National, but missed the cut in 2013 and last year, so he’ll take this season off. Jason Day, at No. 4, missed the cut at PGA National in 2008, withdrew in 2010, and hasn’t been back since.

Matt Kuchar, No. 11, has made the cut in each of his past four appearances at PGA National, but has not finished inside the top 15. No. 13 Jimmy Walker went out with an 81 in the fourth round in 2012, bringing his total to 28-over for 18 rounds at the watery venue, and has seemingly crossed it off his list.

[JetFan1983]

I had a great day with friends and family today at the Tuesday Practice Round of the Honda Classic. We arrived early since I live about five minutes away. Sadly however, my phone died real fast. I was getting bombarded by texts all day long, and taking pictures and filming videos certainly wasn't helping things. But here's what I got. I really just followed Kaymer, Sergio, and Thomas Bjorn around. I never saw Fowler, McIlroy or Phil anywhere, but we left around 12:30, so maybe they got there in the afternoon.

Getting in early though was great. We basically had the place to ourselves for about an hour or two before people started to show up.

Damn it… I probably shouldn't have held the camera vertically for these videos. Oh well. They look better on my phone

Following Kaymer to the 10th tee:

Sergio and Kaymer teeing off. Sergio BOMBED his. Kaymer faded it too much into the right rough.

This was some kid named Carlos Ortiz. He was playing with Kaymer-Sergio-Bjorn so I got this one of him.

Kaymer-Bjorn pitch shots, rear view.

Aaaaaaand, then I got nervous my phone was going to die, and I kind of needed it to work for the next few hours.

All in all, it was a great day. So much fun. Sergio attacked a gator on no.17, hitting it on the nose with his sand wedge. Not even kidding. It was hilarious. Wish I got that on video.

[Club Rat]

Aaaaaaaalllllll ssssssssooooommmmeeee......

The Car & Plane are really cool !!!

Looks like you had a great day....

Wish I was there....

Thanks, @JetFan1983

Club Rat

[JetFan1983]

Aaaaaaaalllllll ssssssssooooommmmeeee......

The Car & Plane are really cool !!!

Looks like you had a great day....

Wish I was there....

Thanks, @JetFan1983

Club Rat

Yea it was a fun day for sure. Hot day in the 80s.

The low volume crowds on Tuesday are great. It filled up though after lunch.

Sergio was really striping it today. More so than Kaymer and Bjorn were. Ishikawa seemed to be struggling on the range. Zach Johnson hit a pull draw for every four push push draws on the range and didn't seem too pleased. Horschel hit some loose ones I thought too, given where he was aiming but he didn't seem to be working too hard. Was laughing a lot in between and joking around with people. Tony Finau duck hooked the shit out of his 3-iron off no.1. That was crazy to see. Roped his mulligan though. Saw some loose shots from the shorter of the Molinari brothers. Can't remember his name.

Obviously these guys are amazing, but Sergio's ball striking stood out to me given the 20-30 guys I paid attention to today.

Edit: Can't stress enough how amazing these guys are, I'm just nitpicking their elite levels relative to each other.

[Silent]

Very cool @JetFan1983

Curious about your pictures the next couple of days.

[SteveBamford]

Love these behind the scenes views. Thanks JetFan.  Although he ultimately couldn't convert (again) Sergio impressed last week in his first US start of 2015.

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Club Rat

Aaaaaaaalllllll ssssssssooooommmmeeee......

The Car & Plane are really cool !!!

Looks like you had a great day....

Wish I was there....

Thanks, @JetFan1983

Club Rat

Yea it was a fun day for sure. Hot day in the 80s.

The low volume crowds on Tuesday are great. It filled up though after lunch.

Sergio was really striping it today. More so than Kaymer and Bjorn were. Ishikawa seemed to be struggling on the range. Zach Johnson hit a pull draw for every four push push draws on the range and didn't seem too pleased. Horschel hit some loose ones I thought too, given where he was aiming but he didn't seem to be working too hard. Was laughing a lot in between and joking around with people. Tony Finau duck hooked the shit out of his 3-iron off no.1. That was crazy to see. Roped his mulligan though. Saw some loose shots from the shorter of the Molinari brothers. Can't remember his name.

Obviously these guys are amazing, but Sergio's ball striking stood out to me given the 20-30 guys I paid attention to today.

Edit: Can't stress enough how amazing these guys are, I'm just nitpicking their elite levels relative to each other.

Thanks for the photos and videos Constantine!

[JetFan1983]

@SteveBamford @boogielicious @Silent Hey, thanks, guys. Happy to do it.

My dad was having phone issues too (he's the guy in the Nantucket red pants in the 2nd video), but here are the pics he just sent me to add.

Sergio Driver:

Sergio was nice to us throughout the round and talked to my dad for a little bit in between holes. My dad got his autograph because Sergio seemed like he wouldn't mind doing it. Plus, there were only 3-4 other people following this group because they tee'd off so early, so it felt okay to ask after a few holes.

Funny side note about that "Donald" pic: He was striping it all day, but something seemed a bit off. Sure enough, ten minutes later a guy walks right by us and it's… Luke Donald! Yes, that guy in the red shirt is actually Billy Hurley III. Donald walked up to him and laughed that Hurley was in his spot. I was surprised at how similar they looked.

[Silent]

Will you be there the next few days also @JetFan1983

If you see Luiten on the range, give him the thumbs up ;-)

[JetFan1983]

Will you be there the next few days also @JetFan1983?

If you see Luiten on the range, give him the thumbs up ;-)

I'm leaving for the pro-am in five minutes, so I'll get some more stuff later tonight. I've never been to the pro-am day, so I'm not sure what the protocol will be, but we'll see.

Haha, if I see Luiten I will get video and pics for you. I didn't see him yesterday though.

[Crim]

Obviously these guys are amazing, but Sergio's ball striking stood out to me given the 20-30 guys I paid attention to today.

Hmmm...I picked Sergio last week in fantasy golf & was disappointed to see how poorly his form went on the back 9 on Sunday. I wasn't sure how he'd bounce back and I surely didn't think about picking him this week. Now you may have changed my mind....

[Silent]

Haha, if I see Luiten I will get video and pics for you. I didn't see him yesterday though.

Cool, thanks a lot! Yesterday he did a practise round with Jamie Donaldson. The lads had fun...

[JetFan1983]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetFan1983

Haha, if I see Luiten I will get video and pics for you. I didn't see him yesterday though.

Cool, thanks a lot! Yesterday he did a practise round with Jamie Donaldson. The lads had fun...

OK, I first have to apologize to @Silent . Didn't see Super Joost anywhere today, although to be fair to me, he wasn't on the pro-am tee sheet. However, my dad bumped into Jamie Donaldson by accident in the hotel while we were wondering around, so there was that at least. Neither guy was watching where they were going

Alright, fun day at the pro-am! Rory teed off at 6:55 AM and I caught up with him at the 9th tee, and from there, we watched the rest of his round. It was a blast and I got some decent vids and pics along the way.

@Crim , Sergio eagled 18 today. Yea, he's been playing well the last two days. Dunno if he'll win, but good form coming into this event, for sure, despite Sunday's poor back nine.

Again, I followed Rory around most of the day, but here are a couple Jhonny Vegas pitch shots on the ninth green:

Here's a video of Phil walking past me. I wouldn't have included it, but thought it was interesting that I caught him telling his struggling pro-am partner to palmar flex (bow) his lead wrist more on the downswing:

Rory teeing off on nine. Bombed.

Rory Approach on 9:

Rory Teeing off on 10:

Rory Approach on 10:

Rory teeing off on eleven:

Rory teeing off on twelve. The video is sideways for the first few seconds, then it rights itself. Fun angle for me to watch him from, and this was bombed, as they all were. Shout out to @nevets88 :

Rory teeing off on thirteen:

Rory teeing off on fifteen:

Rory teeing off sixteen. TL;DR This is the best angle I got of him all day:

Rory Teeing Off on 17; you can see he changed his shirt in between holes; this was to like five feet:

Fun Day! Rory I think missed 1 green? Birdied 17 and 18 though. Hit it great tee to green. Looks to be in fine form heading into tomorrow.

---

And finally, a bonus picture. Here's a picture of Scott Stallings (left) and John Peterson (left center) waiting with me at the valet of the restaurant Rocco's Tacos, about two minutes from PGA National. I wasn't going to take a picture of them, but @mchepp peer pressured me into it

[Silent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetFan1983

OK, I first have to apologize to @Silent . Didn't see Super Joost anywhere today, although to be fair to me, he wasn't on the pro-am tee sheet.

No need to apologize mate :-) You are not there for me, haha. Hope we'll see him high on the leaderboard (or at least that he makes the cut).