by You hear that?
It’s the unmistakable sound of weights hitting the ground in Joey D’s gym and cameras snapping photos of The Woods menu. Welcome to #JupLife week!
The PGA Tour begins the Florida swing this week at the Honda Classic. This event has historically been a popular one due to the number of tour pros that live in the area, but 2019 brings a tempered field. The Euro Tour also picks up in Oman, while the women head to Singapore for the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
The Swamp
The Honda Classic at PGA National begins on Thursday, but this year does not have the hype that past events have brought to Jack’s second home. The 2019 schedule change left the event on the backside of a WGC and an awkward two weeks before The PLAYERS. The tournament has the weakest strength of fieldit has experienced in recent memory, but names like Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler will all be in attendance. Honda Classic Tee Times
Just Too Much
Justin Thomas returns as defending champion following his playoff victory over Luke List a season ago. JT made a clutch birdie on the 72nd hole of the event and beat List on the first playoff hole with a two-putt birdie on 18. This all coming after the infamous “Get in the bunker!” call from a member of the gallery.
Storylines
The Field – As noted in the intro, many of the world’s best are skipping this week despite the event being in their backyard. Many players are coming off the long travel stretch of the California/Scottsdale/WGC swing and are in need of a break before Sawgrass.
The Field pt. 2 – The upside of many of the big guns skipping this event is that a lot of players low on the priority rank get into the field this week. Young guys like Max Homa, Wyndham Clark, Seth Reeves, Sam Burns and Curtis Luck are amongst the 30+ players in the field who were on the Web.com last season.
The Field pt. 3 – We call out poor sponsor’s exemptions so it’s only fair to recognize solid picks. Lucas Bjerregaard, Matt Wallace and Taylor Gooch were all given spots in the field this week via the unrestricted category.
Paulie’s Picks
The Bear Trap and PGA National can be a tough course to navigate, here’s who Paulie likes this week for DraftKings and one and done leagues. Read here.
Oman Open
The Europeans who have not made their way to the States in recent weeks will be playing the Oman Open this week in the Middle East. Notables in the field include Chris Wood, Thomas Pieters, Thomas Detry, Andy Sullivan, Min Woo Lee and Jorge Campillo. Joost Luiten, Shubhankar Sharma and David Lipsky are among those in the field who made the long trip over after playing in Mexico last weekend. Tee Times
Singapore
The women continue their trek through the eastern hemisphere with a trip to Singapore and the HSBC Women’s World Championship. Michelle Wie is the defending champion and returns for just her second start of the year. Inbee Park has won this event two of the last four years as well. Wie and Park join the rest of the world’s best in the best 2019 field to date. Tee Times
Quick Hooks
The Monday Qualifier for the Honda Classic was a special kind of impressive. Erik Compton and Drew Nesbitt shot 65s to guarantee a spot while Blayne Barber and David Pastore made eagles in a 7-for-2 playoff amongst the 66s to earn their way into the event.
Mackenzie Tour Q-School started on Tuesday at TPC San Antonio. Notable names in the field include U.S. Amateur champion Doc Redman, current Clemson stud Bryson Nimmer, former UNLV star Shintaro Ban, and former Ok. St. Cowboy Zach Olsen. Leaderboard
The R&A announced that Royal Liverpool will host the 2022 Open Championship. Rory won the last Open held at the club in 2014.
The Latest Podcasts and Articles
Shotgun Start: The Honda takes a hit, prescriptions for a new Florida swing, and Fan Vote Friday Junior
Brendan and Andy run through the weekly schedule to begin this Wednesday episode and learn about the Greg Norman course hosting the Oman Open and the Dump-in-a-Box Classic in the process. After running through the featured groups for the Honda, they get to the primary discussion topic of the week — the diminished field at PGA National. They review how low the strength of field has dipped, why it went that way, and prescriptions for what is an incredibly cramped five-week stretch running into the Gold Standard. In news, they hit on Tiger blowing off his usual chat with the press two straight days to opt for his sit-down with State Run Media. Then they get to some more big commitments for Bay Hill, the Open locking in another future site, and Marty Sleeps taking a dramatically different tone than Mike Davis on the rules changes. The inaugural Shotgun Start Fan Vote Friday Junior nominees are announced and the ballot is trimmed to four options. They wrap with Paulie’s Picks for the Honda. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify
It’s almost golf season, treat yourself to a new polo.
