The Tournament Left Behind? Billy Horschel ‘Disappointed in PGA Tour’ Over State of The Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL – The Honda Classic seemingly had it all.

A beautiful venue at PGA National. Gorgeous weather. A home base for dozens of PGA Tour pros. A tournament hosted by Jack Nicklaus. A list of former winners includes The Golden Bear himself, Fred Couples, Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Thomas.

Not many of those top players, however, are in South Florida this week for The Honda Classic—the last year the tournament will be sponsored by the automaker after 42 years, which is the longest-running continuous deal on the PGA Tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by The Honda Classic (@thehondaclassic)

So, what happened?

The PGA Tour schedule seems to be the main culprit.

With the advent of designated events with $20 million purses and a requirement for top players to play all but one of them, events like The Honda Classic and its $8.4 million purse are left behind.

The fact that it’s sandwiched in between four designated events—the WM Phoenix Open and the Genesis Invitational the past two weeks and the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship in the next two—doesn’t help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Billy Horschel, who was born not far up the Atlantic coast in Grant, FL, is playing in five-straight events because he wants to win in his home state of Florida, which he hasn’t done in his amateur or pro career.

Horschel said:

“I’m sort of disappointed in the PGA Tour—I’m not going to say they didn’t prioritize The Honda Classic, they prioritize every sponsor that we have. But when I was out on tour early in my career, this was a hot event. You had top 20, all top-20 players in the world, playing here. This was an event to play at.”

“We need to make sure that the date itself is in a better spot. You’ve got 30 to 40 PGA Tour pros that live within a couple miles of this place, and I think you’ve only got a handful of them playing this week, and that’s disappointing. It really is.”

Lowry, who is in the midst of playing seven tournaments in a row, is one of those local players taking part in The Honda Classic this week. He said he enjoys the challenge at PGA National and can hop out of his bed in the morning to play the course.

“I live here, I like the course, I feel like I can win around a course like this. I want to play here. Next year, the schedule is going to be a little bit different, but I don’t know what it will be like. This is a proper championship golf course, and it deserves a good field and deserves a good tournament, and that’s why I’m here.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Billy Horschel (@billyho_golf)

Horschel did say that, without getting into it too much, that he expects this tournament to return in 2024 with a new sponsor. Which means the event won’t go the way of the Doral Open in the Miami area.

The PGA Tour is also switching to a calendar-based schedule in 2024, so this event moving away from the API and The Players also isn’t out of the question.

Horschel hopes that those changes will help bring this event back to a prominent one on the golf calendar.

Cover Image Via Palm Beach Post