This week, the Honda Classic at PGA National will mark the beginning of the Florida swing for the PGA Tour.
Let’s take time to consider some of the Honda Classic’s most memorable moments as we start our week at PGA National.
Take 2012
In the 2012 Honda Classic, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods took the tee, knowing that a victory would mean more.
It would propel McIlroy, then 22 years old, to the top of the world rankings for the first time, making him the youngest player to do it since Tiger, then 21 years old. It would mark Woods’ first victory since 2009 and provide an answer to the sector of golf fans who questioned if his recent setbacks due to accidents and swing modifications would preclude him from ever winning again.
With a victory, McIlroy accomplished his objective, but not before Woods mounted a challenge and capped a final-hole 62 with an eagle. That was Woods’ lowest final-round score to that point in his career. Woods won at Bay Hill later that month, the first of his three victories in 2012. In little time at all, he would be back in the winner’s circle.
Jack Roars Back
Even while it’s not as well-known as, say, the 1986 Masters, Jack Nicklaus’ performance in the 1978 Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic was superb. Golden Bear defeated Grier Jones by one stroke with two birdies on the final five holes.
Nicklaus’ incredible run includes three putts for birdies, and two chip-ins, including one from 80 feet. Nicklaus and Jones were tied going into the 18th hole. Nicklaus hit a 9-iron to within 5 feet, and when Jones missed a 15-foot birdie try, he made the winning putt.
The Eagle Has Landed
The 1992 Honda Classic at Weston Hills is a tough event to beat for fireworks on the last hole.
Corey Pavin shot a 136-yard 8-iron shot into the cup on hole 18 to regain the lead he had lost due to bogeys on 15 and 17. After finishing and signing his scorecard, Fred Couples’ 118-yard wedge shot that landed 10 inches from the cup and allowed for a birdie to force a playoff nearly outperformed him.
The two most accomplished golfers from the previous season were partnered in the extra round: Pavin, the top-money winner and PGA of America Player of the Year, and Couples, the PGA Tour Player of the Year. A birdie on the second playoff hole gave Pavin the victory. up.”
Nothing But The Tooth
On the ninth hole of his second round at the 2013 Honda Classic, defending champion McIlroy walked off the course because he was 7 over par and was almost certain to miss the cut.
He told reporters in the players’ parking lot, “I can’t say anything, folks. Simply put, my mental state is horrible. Nevertheless, the PGA Tour later that day said that McIlroy’s withdrawal was due to “wisdom teeth problems.” Nonetheless, McIlroy later that day released a statement in which he claimed that his wisdom teeth pain had rendered him “just unable to concentrate.”
In an exclusive interview with Golf.com in January 2014, McIlroy defended the wisdom tooth narrative but insisted that withdrawing would not be the “proper thing to do.”
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