The West Coast Swing is done, and the PGA Tour moves to the east coast for the Florida Swing.
First up is the Honda Classic which will be hosted at the Champion Course at PGA National.
This will be the 51st playing of the Honda Classic.
The event was established in 1972 and was originally called the Jackie Gleason; Inverrary Classic, after the famous entertainer.
The event is hosted at PGA National where it has been played since 2007.
A week after the second designated event of the year the players for the Honda Classic do not reflect as strong a field as the PGA Tour has provided over the past few weeks.
Coming off of the WM Phoenix Open two weeks ago, and the Genesis Invitational last week only three of the top-20 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) is in the field this week.
Sungae Im (18th OWGR), Billy Horshel (19th OWGR), and Shane Lowry (20th OWGR) are the lone top-20 players in the field at the start of the Florida Swing.
There is one previous champion that will not be in the field this week. Matt Jones who won in 2021 left the PGA Tour in 2022 for the LIV Golf Series, and was suspended from the PGA Tour.
Matt Jones is also one of the three golfer left on the law suit filed against the PGA Tour by LIV Golf defectees.
With an elevated event next week it’s almost expected that many of the top players sit this week out and show back up at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational and it’s $20 million purse.
Despite not being an elevated event the purse has increased slighly from $8 million to $8.4 million. This year’s champion will take home $1.512 million which is up from the $1.440 million that went to Sepp Straka in 2022.
Players to Watch
Joseph Bramlett
This will be Joseph’s third trip to PGA National for the Honda Classic, and has two missed in his previous entries.
So far this season in eleven events Joseph has missed the cut just twice. He also has five top-25 finishes including two top-10s.
Joseph’s best result came at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this month when he finished in a tie for seventh place.
Marcus Byrd
Marcus is in the field this week as a result of him being selected by Tiger Woods to receive the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption.
Through the Exemption Marcus was also in the Genesis Invitational last week at Riviera where he missed the cut.
Tee Times
All Times EST
Bramlett: Thursday – 7:12 AM; Friday – 12:07 PM
Byrd: Thursday – 1:35 PM ; Friday – 8:40 AM
How to Watch
Thursday (2/23) & Friday (2/24) – 1 to 3 PM (Golf Channel)
Saturday (2/25) & Sunday (2/26) – 1 to 3 PM (Golf Channel); 3 to 6 PM (CBS)