WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — It’s been easy to point out who has not been at the Honda Classic the last three years. It’s a discussion that had to take place and ignoring it would have been irresponsible.
But while it appears help could be on the way in terms of having the tournament better positioned on the schedule to attract more elite golfers—more on that later—let’s first look at what the Honda Classic has been the last three years, or since the tournament with the longest running sponsor on Tour has been squeezed by prestigious events, most notably the Players Championship moving up to March.
So maybe the past three winners—Matt Jones this year, Sungjae Im in 2020, Keith Mitchell in 2019—weren’t the household names we’re used to seeing, not just on leaderboards each weekend but, for those who live in the area, perhaps at our local Starbucks. But that does not take away from the way each emerged on the challenging Champion course; Mitchell and Im winning for the first time on Tour, Jones for the second.
Are we sure that if Palm Beach Gardens’ Dustin Johnson, the man who avoids the Champion course like he does a water hazards after shooting 27-over-par in his three Honda starts, including missing two cuts; or Jupiter’s Rory McIlroy, who won the event in 2012 but also was 16-over the previous year and 9-over the last time he played in 2018; or Jupiter’s Justin Thomas, who has two missed cuts to go along with his one title at Honda, were in the field that Jones still would not have emerged Sunday?
Jones not only tied the course record with a 61 Thursday, he had the second lowest four-day total since Honda moved to PGA National. He beat the two most popular players in the field, Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, by 10 and 19 strokes, respectively; and the two highest-ranked players in the field who made the cut, Im and Adam Scott, by 7 and 8 shots.
Last year, Im held off names like Tommy Fleetwood, Daniel Berger and Gary Woodland on Sunday after Brooks Koepka and Fowler missed the cut. Two years ago, Mitchell overcame the pressure of fan favorites Koepka and Fowler chasing him down. The two – both in the top 10 at that time – tied for second one shot behind Mitchell.
While a field with more top 20 players would provide more juice, Honda continues to stage a quality event. Executive Director Ken Kennerly and Tournament Director Andrew George were hit by the perfect storm this year: An ongoing global pandemic that continues to require protocols and guidelines, a spot in the schedule that became more unfavorable when the WGC event three weeks before Honda was moved from Mexico to Florida, and three popular locals – Koepka, Berger and Woodland – unable to play because of either injury or illness.
None of that was under Honda’s control.
“We didn’t really know what to expect,” Kennerly said Sunday. “For it to come off the way it has come off, it has really been fantastic.”
Phil Mickelson 6th hole during the first round of the 2021 Honda Classic at PGA National Champion course on March 18, 2021 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
But Honda needs help to get back to the world-class field we saw just three to five years ago. From 2014 to 2018, this tournament attracted about half of the top 20 golfers in the World Golf Ranking and more than half ranked in the top 10.
The last three years – which coincides with the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass moving up to March from May – the Honda has received commitments from 16 players in the top 20 (including Koepka and Berger this year) and four in the top 10, combined.
And no other tournament in the world has more PGA pros able to roll out of their own bed and arrive at the course within 30 minutes than the Honda Classic.
On Saturday, one prominent member of the golf industry said: “The PGA Tour has done us no favors.” On Sunday, the most prominent member of the industry worldwide hinted that could change soon.
Jack Nicklaus, whose charity is the primary beneficiary of the Honda Classic, is not happy where Honda falls in the schedule – between the Players and a World Golf Championship event in Austin – and leaked that a change could come sooner rather than later.
“It will be different on the schedule … I think it will be much better for the Honda tournament,” Nicklaus said Sunday.
Kennerly confirmed discussions are under way for the tournament to move to a more favorable spot in the schedule but added at this moment Honda 2022 remains where it was this year.
“We continue to review our position on the schedule with the PGA Tour,” Kennerly said. “It’s the calendar. Just trying to figure out where we can go at this juncture.”
Honda would take going back to the start of the Florida Swing, provided it is not following Tiger Woods’ invitational at Genesis and a World Golf Championship event.
And although a tournament is expected to return to Mexico City in 2022 in late February, it likely will not be a WGC event, meaning fewer golfers would commit.
Golfers then would build their schedule around the Players two weeks after Honda, and the Masters either five or six weeks following Honda depending on the calendar.
That gives the Honda a much better chance of attracting fields like it had from 2014-18.
“We’re constantly working on it,” Kennerly said.
When factoring in Honda’s 40-year commitment, Jack and Barbara Nicklaus’ involvement and the great work done by the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation, this tournament deserves more from the Tour.
