The Honda Classic Preview

The PGA Tour is in Florida this week for the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens. Camilo Villegas defends the title but he’ll have to get past a strong field including last week’s winner Luke Donald.

Camilo Villegas defends
Fergus Bisset
By
published

Lowdown: The PGA Tour is in Florida this week for the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens. Camilo Villegas defends the title but he'll have to get past a strong field including last week's winner Luke Donald as well as other Europeans - Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy. This event began life as the Jackie Gleason Inverary Classic back in 1972 but it's been sponsored by Honda since 1982. Over the years, the event has been won by many of golf's biggest names including - Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Tom Kite, Nick Price and Vijay Singh. The tournament marks the start of the PGA Tour's "Florida Swing" with four tournaments contested in the State through March. Many of the world's top players will tee it up this week as they complete preparations for the second WGC event of the year - The Cadillac Championship to be held next week at Doral. The Champion Course at PGA National is one of the toughest on the PGA Tour circuit. Last year it ranked as the second hardest on Tour. A feature of the course is the stretch from the 15th to the 17th. These holes have been dubbed "The Bear Trap" after course re-designer Jack Nicklaus. A par 3, then a par 4 and another par 3, each tee shot demands supreme accuracy to a very narrow landing area. Last year Camilo Villegas put on a masterful performance to win the tournament by five shots from Anthony Kim. The Colombian's winning total of 13-under-par was the lowest since the tournament moved to the PGA National course in 2007. Venue: PGA National Champion Course, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Date: March 3-6 Course stats: par 70, 7,158 yards Purse: $5,600,000, Winner: $1,008,000 Defending Champion: Camilo Villegas (-13)

TV Coverage: Thursday 3 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 8pm Friday 4 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 8pm Saturday 5 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 8pm Sunday 6 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 8pm

Player Watch: Luke Donald - He won this tournament in 2006. That was on a different course, but he also holds the course record at PGA National and was runner-up around the layout in 2008. He'll be brimming with confidence on the back of his fabulous Match Play victory last week.

Graeme McDowell - The Northern Irishman has played well in this event before and, although he exited the Match Play in the third round, he showed good form. He'll be looking to consolidate his move up the World Rankings with a good result here.

Rickie Fowler - The young American looked awesome in his demolition of Phil Mickelson at the Match Play. It's about time Fowler moved his game up a level by securing a big win and this could be the week he does it.

Key hole: 15th. A par 3 of 179 yards that marks the start of "The Bear Trap." It requires a pinpoint iron shot with bunkers waiting left and water lurking right.

Skills required: Grinding. This is a long and testing par-70 course with a run of tough holes towards the end. The focus must be on minimising errors and taking opportunities as and when they arise.

Where Next? Betting Guide: Honda Classic

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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