Honda Classic Power Rankings: Top ten golfers at PGA National
Defending champion? Check. Good recent form? Check.
Sometime’s you don’t need to overthink things. I’m rollin’ with Rickie this week as the 29-year-old seeks his first win in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event since his 2017 Honda Classic title.
That’s not to say Fowler has been a slouch. He blew by an abbreviated, yet talented, field at December’s Hero World Challenge. In 2018, Fowler tied for fourth at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and tied for 11th in his last outing at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
With two weeks off, the Californian Fowler should be geared up for the jump to the east coast where he’s actually played some of his best golf.
Fowler has wins at Quail Hollow, TPC Sawgrass and PGA National, but none west of the Mississippi River.
To bring it back to the Honda Classic, Fowler has racked up three top-10s and two more top-25s at this event because he’s never out of a hole.
Fowler finished second last season in strokes gained putting and holed some incredible putts of length to also finish second in the 2017 Honda Classic field in Strokes Gained putting.
His trademark aggressive play has cooled down some with maturity, but he’s still able to separate at a grind-it-out event like this. He was 24th last season in Strokes Gained around-the-green and fourth in par breakers.