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Honda Classic: Groups to Watch Thursday and Friday

By Tim Letcher

AKRON, OH - JUNE 30: Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson prepare to putt on the sixth green during the first round of the World Golf Championships - Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club South Course on June 30, 2016 in Akron, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
AKRON, OH - JUNE 30: Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson prepare to putt on the sixth green during the first round of the World Golf Championships - Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club South Course on June 30, 2016 in Akron, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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The PGA Tour stops at the Honda Classic this week, staying in Florida once again. This week’s field does not come close to what we saw at last week’s Players Championship, but there are still some interesting pairings. Here are the top five groups for Thursday and Friday.

Rickie Fowler, Sungjae Im, Keith Mitchell (Thursday, 1:04 ET; Friday, 8:09 ET) – Fowler has been, well, not good this season. He has missed three of his last five cuts, including last week. Im is the defending champion at this event and one of the most talented young players in the world. Mitchell has missed the cut in four of his last five events.

Daniel Berger, Keegan Bradley, Lee Westwood (Thursday, 12:53 ET; Friday, 7:58 ET) – Berger is the best player in the field this week and has already won once this season (Pebble Beach). Bradley has show some signs of resurgence this season with a pair of Top 10s. Westwood has been very hot the last two weeks, holding 54-hole leads at both the Arnold Palmer and the Players.

Zach Johnson, Shane Lowry, Phil Mickelson (Thursday, 8:09 ET; Friday, 1:04 ET) – Johnson has made 11 cuts in 11 starts this season. His best finish was a T6 at the RSM Classic. Lowry was in the mix at the Players last week, ultimately finishing eighth. Mickelson had his best PGA Tour finish of the season with a T31 at the Players last week.

Joaquin Niemann, Ian Poulter, Adam Scott (Thursday, 7:58 ET; Friday, 12:53 ET) – Niemann has made 11 cuts in 11 starts with a pair of runner-up finishes this season. Poulter has made five cuts in seven starts, but missed the weekend at the Players. Scott has made nine cuts in nine starts but his only Top 10, a T10, came at Torrey Pines.

Satoshi Kodaira, Vijay Singh, Steve Stricker (Thursday, 1:37 ET; Friday, 8:42 ET) – Kodaira has made six of 12 cuts this season but he’s not what is interesting about this pairing. Namely, the fact that the 54-year-old Stricker and the 58-year-old Singh are paired together is fun. That’s 46 PGA Tour wins between the two.

It will be interesting to see who is able to bounce back this week after a tough week at the Players last week. There are a number of storylines within these groups that should make Thursday and Friday fun to watch.

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