PGA Tour : Honda Classic Leaderboard
As recent as last year any field offering up $8,400,000 in prize money, with $1.4m to the winner would be enough to attract a top class field.
Not so anymore, and after all the hoopla of back to back designated events worth $20,000,000 in Phoenix and LA with the worlds top 20 required to play, the PGA Tour lands with a dull thud in ritzy Palm Beach, Florida for this weeks Honda Classic where Sungjae Im #18 and Shane Lowry #20 are the only players in the top 30 to show up, and Lowry lives in Florida.
The defending champion is a fine Austrian player, Sepp Straka #31, who is relatively unknown to Americans.
Worse for the Honda, is that the AP Invitational up at Bay Hill is another $20m designated event next week, followed by the Players at $25m, ensuring that most all of the best are taking this week off at home.
The same fate faces our $9m RBC Canadian Open June 8-11. It has the unnecessarily designated $20m Memorial the week before and the US Open in LA the week after worth $20m, then the Travellers who are designated this year. You can be assured that defending champion Rory McIlroy won't be at the Oakdale G&CC, nor will many of the top 60.
For the last two weeks the excitement for the game of golf, with Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler winning in dramatic fashion and especially with Tiger showing up has been at an all time high with casual fans, non golf media all in on the act.
However this week is the new downside, and it begs the question, which events will be designated next year.
I could also suggest that the WM Phoenix Open hardly needed the $20m extra hype, its always sold out without it and Riviera always attracts a top field, so could that designation be better placed elsewhere ?
There are four Canadians playing this week
Michael Gligic 1st tee 8.29,
Ben Silverman 1st tee 1.24 (sponsors exemption)
Adam Svensson 1st tee 12.29
Taylor Pendrith 10th tee 1.02
Bryan Angus
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