PGA Tour

PGA - The Honda Classic Preview

From The Sports Network

DATES: Thursday, February 28th through Sunday, March 3rd

SITE: PGA National Resort & Spa (Champion Course), Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

COURSE ARCHITECT: Tom and George Fazio (1981), Jack Nicklaus (1990, 2002)

PAR: 70

YARDAGE: 7,110

Hole-By-Hole:	1 - Par 4 365 Yds	10 - Par 4 508 Yds
	2 - Par 4 464 Yds	11 - Par 4 450 Yds
	3 - Par 5 538 Yds	12 - Par 4 427 Yds
	4 - Par 4 376 Yds	13 - Par 4 388 Yds
	5 - Par 3 217 Yds	14 - Par 4 465 Yds
	6 - Par 4 479 Yds	15 - Par 3 179 Yds
	7 - Par 3 226 Yds	16 - Par 4 434 Yds
	8 - Par 4 427 Yds	17 - Par 3 190 Yds
	9 - Par 4 421 Yds	18 - Par 5 556 Yds
	-------------	-------------
	35 3,513 Yds	35 3,597 Yds

Annual:	41st
Television:	Golf Channel - Thursday/Friday -- 3-6 p.m. (et),
	- Thursday/Friday -- 8:30-11:30 p.m. (et) - replay,
	- Saturday/Sunday -- 1-3 p.m. (et),
	NBC - Saturday/Sunday -- 3-6 p.m. (et),
	Golf Channel - Saturday/Sunday -- 9:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (et) -
	replay
Defending Champion:	Rory McIlroy
Runner-Up:	Tom Gillis, Tiger Woods
Tournament Record:	264 (Justin Leonard, 2003)
54-Hole Record:	196 (Davis Love III, 2003)
36-Hole Record:	128 (Dan Pohl, 1989)
Course Record:	61 (Brian Harman, 2012)
Total Purse:	$6,000,000
Shares:	1st Place - $1,080,000; 2nd Place - $648,000; 3rd Place - $408,000

2012 Finish
Player	Score	Player	Score
Rory McIlroy	268	Charl Schwartzel	273
Tom Gillis	270	Rickie Fowler	274
Tiger Woods	270	Dicky Pride	274
Lee Westwood	272	Three players at	275
Justin Rose	273

Past Honda Classic Winners
Year	Winner (Score) -- Runners-Up
2012	Rory McIlroy (268) -- Tom Gillis, Tiger Woods
2011	Rory Sabbatini (271) -- Y.E. Yang
2010	Camilo Villegas (267) -- Anthony Kim
2009	Y.E. Yang (271) -- John Rollins
2008	Ernie Els (274) -- Luke Donald
2007	*Mark Wilson (275) -- Jose Coceres, Boo Weekley, Camilo Villegas
2006	Luke Donald (276) -- Geoff Ogilvy
2005	*Padraig Harrington (274) -- Vijay Singh, Joe Ogilvie
2004	Todd Hamilton (276) -- Davis Love III
2003	Justin Leonard (264) -- Chad Campbell, Davis Love III
2002	Matt Kuchar (269) -- Brad Faxon, Joey Sindelar
2001	Jesper Parnevik (270) -- Craig Perks, Mark Calcavecchia, Geoff Ogilvy
2000	Dudley Hart (269) -- J.P. Hayes, Kevin Wentworth
1999	Vijay Singh (277) -- Payne Stewart
1998	Mark Calcavecchia (270) -- Vijay Singh
1997	Stuart Appleby (274) -- Michael Bradley, Payne Stewart
1996	Tim Herron (271) -- Mark McCumber
1995	Mark O'Meara (275) -- Nick Faldo
1994	Nick Price (276) -- Craig Parry
1993	*#Fred Couples (207) -- Robert Gamez
1992	*Corey Pavin (273) -- Fred Couples
1991	Steve Pate (279) -- Paul Azinger, Dan Halldorson
1990	John Huston (282) -- Mark Calcavecchia
1989	Blaine McCallister (266) -- Payne Stewart
1988	Joey Sindelar (276) -- Ed Fiori, Sandy Lyle, Payne Stewart
1987	Mark Calcavecchia (279) -- Bernhard Langer, Payne Stewart
1986	Kenny Knox (287) -- Andy Bean, John Mahaffey, Jodie Mudd, Clarence Rose
1985	*Curtis Strange (275) -- Peter Jacobsen
1984	*Bruce Lietzke (280) -- Andy Bean
1983	Johnny Miller (278) -- Jack Nicklaus
1982	Hale Irwin (269) -- Jack Nicklaus, Denis Watson
1981	Tom Kite (274) -- Jack Nicklaus
1980	Johnny Miller (274) -- Charles Coody, Bruce Lietzke
1979	Larry Nelson (274) -- Grier Jones
1978	Jack Nicklaus (276) -- Grier Jones
1977	Jack Nicklaus (275) -- Gary Player
1976	@Jack Nicklaus (269) -- J.C.Snead (Tournament Players Championship)
1975	Bob Murphy (273) -- Eddie Pearce
1974	Leonard Thompson (278) -- Hale Irwin
1973	Lee Trevino (279) -- Forrest Fezler
1972	Tom Weiskopf (278) -- Jack Nicklaus

* - Won in Playoff

# - Rain Shortened

@ - Tournament Players Championship

Note:Formerly called Honda Inverrary Classic (1982-83), American Motors

Inverrary Classic (1981), Jackie Gleason's Inverrary Classic (1974-80), Jackie Gleason's Inverrary National Airlines Classic (1973) and Jackie Gleason's Inverrary Classic (1972). Inverrary Golf and Country Club served as host to the Tournament Players Championship in 1976.

Top Contenders in the Field
Player	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Rory McIlroy	---	---	---	---	---	---	T-13	T-40	T-70	Won
Tom Gillis	mc	---	T-52	---	---	---	---	T-17	mc	T-2
Tiger Woods	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	T-2
Lee Westwood	---	---	---	T-55	---	---	---	T-9	T-29	4th
Charl Schwartzel	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	T-14	T-5
Justin Rose	T-57	T-36	T-14	---	---	T-15	mc	3rd	---	T-5
Graeme McDowell	---	---	T-65	---	---	---	---	T-31	T-6	T-9
Keegan Bradley	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	mc	T-12
Ernie Els	---	---	---	---	---	Won	T-22	T-67	T-70	T-21
Y.E. Yang	---	---	---	---	---	T-72	Won	mc	2nd	T-30
Mark Wilson	mc	---	T-63	---	Won	mc	mc	72nd	---	T-30
Ted Potter, Jr.	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	T-30
Robert Allenby	T-40	T-4	T-14	T-31	T-5	T-4	T-5	mc	T-21	T-36
Rory Sabbatini	---	T-9	---	---	---	---	---	---	Won	T-62
Justin Leonard	Won	T-25	T-38	mc	mc	T-30	T-52	T-17	T-17	mc
Camilo Villegas	---	---	---	T-31	T-2	T-24	mc	Won	mc	mc
Louis Oosthuizen	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	wd	wd
Jason Dufner	---	69th	---	---	T-13	---	T-9	T-40	T-51	---
Dustin Johnson	---	---	---	---	---	mc	---	---	---	---

Sports Network Selections

Pick to Win - Justin Rose
Darkhorse - Ted Potter, Jr.

Last Week's Pick to Win (Mahan, Schwartzel) - Lost in final, Lost in 1st rd
Last Week's Darkhorse (Stricker, Jacobson) - Lost in quarters, Lost in 3rd rd

NOTES:The PGA Tour heads east to Florida this week for the first of four

straight events in the Sunshine State. First up is the Honda Classic. The top two players in the world are in the field -- defending champion Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods. McIlroy and Woods are both coming off first-round losses at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Many European Tour players are playing in preparation for the WGC-Cadillac Championship next week at Doral. The purse increased $300,000 from last year to $6 million, with the winner receiving $1,080,000.

The Champion Course at PGA National Resort and Spa staged the 1983 Ryder Cup matches and the 1987 PGA Championship, won by Larry Nelson. The course was also the site of 28 Senior PGA Championships and five PGA Club Professional Championships. The Champion Course was originally designed by Tom and George Fazio in 1981 and redesigned and renovated by Jack Nicklaus in 1990 and 2002.

Last year, McIlroy became the No. 1 player in the world after he withstood a furious charge from Woods to win. McIlroy shot four rounds in the 60s and finished the championship at 12-under 268. That was enough for a 2-shot victory over Woods and Tom Gillis. Woods recorded two eagles in the final round, including one at 18, for a final-round, 8-under 62. Not only was that Woods' lowest final round in his PGA Tour career, it was also his best round on tour since the third round of the 2009 BMW Championship.

Northern Ireland's McIlroy became the fifth consecutive international winner, joining Rory Sabbatini of South Africa (2011), Camilo Villegas of Colombia (2010), Y.E. Yang of South Korea (2009) and Ernie Els of South Africa (2008). McIlroy also became the youngest winner in tournament history at 22 years and 10 months old.

In 2009, Yang birdied three straight holes on the front nine in the final round, then hung on to defeat John Rollins and win by a single stroke. Yang, who entered the event ranked 460th in the world, shot a 2-under 68 on the final day and completed his first PGA Tour title at 9-under-par 271. He joined K.J. Choi as the only two Koreans to win on the PGA Tour. Yang went on to win the PGA Championship in 2009, coming from behind to defeat Woods in the final round.

Yang became the 11th player to earn his first PGA Tour win at this event, joining Leonard Thompson (1974), Larry Nelson (1979), Kenny Knox (1986), John Huston (1990), Tim Herron (1996), Stuart Appleby (1997), Matt Kuchar (2002), Todd Hamilton (2004), Padraig Harrington (2005) and Mark Wilson (2007).

In 2008, Els fired a final-round 67 to come from three strokes down at the start of the day to win. Els finished at 6-under-par 274 to beat 2006 champion Luke Donald by one shot. The victory for Els was his first on the PGA Tour since the 2004 WGC-American Express Championship in Ireland.

Geoff Ogilvy became the fifth player in tournament history to record a double eagle in 2006, when he holed out from 180 yards with an 8-iron. The other players who have double eagles are Bruce Lietzke (1980), David Sutherland (2000), Tim Petrovic (2002) and James McLean (2003).

Harrington holed a six-foot par putt on the second playoff hole in 2005 and then watched as Vijay Singh's short par effort lipped out to give the Irishman his first career victory on the PGA Tour. Harrington's 6-shot comeback in the final round was the largest in event history.

In 2003, course records were falling, as Davis Love III set a new 54-hole mark of 196 after back-to-back 65s in rounds two and three. That same year, Justin Leonard's tournament total of 264 broke the event mark by two shots set back in 1989 by Blaine McCallister.

Jack Nicklaus is the only player to win this event two straight years (1977-78). Nicklaus, Johnny Miller and Mark Calcavecchia are the only multiple champions. In addition, Nicklaus won here in 1976 when it hosted The Tournament Players Championship.

Over the years, this tournament has been staged at many sites. From 1972 through 1983 it was held at Inverrary Golf & Country Club's East Course, when it was titled the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic. Under its present name, the tournament moved to the TPC at Eagle Trace from 1984 through 1991. In 1992, the event moved to Weston Hills Golf & Country Club for four seasons, followed by a one-year return to the TPC at Eagle Trace. From 1997 to 2002, the TPC at Heron Bay was the host venue. The Country Club at Mirasol hosted from 2003-06 before the tournament moved to PGA National in 2007.

The last time a player shot 80 and still won a tournament on the PGA Tour was in 1986, when Kenny Knox claimed a 1-shot victory at this event. Jesper Parnevik (2001) and Herron (1996) are the only wire-to-wire winners in tournament history.

The PGA Tour continues its Florida swing in Miami next week for the WGC-Cadillac Championship, as Justin Rose defends his title at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral against the best players in the world. The rest of the PGA Tour will be at the Puerto Rico Open, where George McNeill captured the 2012 event.

02/26 17:46:11 ET

As of February 26, 2013, at 05:46 PM ET