Honda Classic: Select Featured Groupings and First Round Tee Times

The official start of the 2022 Florida portion of the PGA schedule is less than 48 hours away now, and while the Honda Classic may be missing some of the bigger names in golf this week there are still plenty of fantastic players to keep an eye on at PGA National.

Joaquin Niemann, Brooks Koepka, and Louis Oosthuizen are just a few of the names that will feature in the marquee and featured group coverage this week at the Honda Classic. Here is a closer look at some of the select groups worth watching this week.

Rickie Fowler looks to turn back the clock this week in Florida at Honda Classic

( Rickie Fowler – Keith Mitchell – Matthew Wolff )

The group consisting of two past champions of the Honda Classic and one of the rising stars in the game will get their opening round on Thursday underway from the 1st hole at PGA National at 12:51 pm EST.

Rickie Fowler, a past champion of the Honda Classic (2017), and former top 10 player in the world has had a difficult time in recent years. He has not won on the PGA Tour since 2019 when he won the Waste Management Phoenix Open. It is hard to believe that things have fallen apart this badly for Fowler. The 2015 PLAYERS Champion has had just two top 10 finishes since early 2020 and he has seen his OWGR decline in each of the last four years.

There was some hope that Rickie may have been getting things moving back in the right direction after he recorded a 3rd place finish at the CJ Cup last October, but he has since continued to struggle, even with a made cut last week at Riviera. He will be hopeful he can turn back the clock this week at a place he loves. Aside from the win in 2017, Fowler has recorded three other top 10 finishes at PGA National, and he has made the weekend in eight of his last eleven starts at the Honda Classic since 2010.

Keith Mitchell, the winner of the 2019 Honda Classic, returns to PGA National this week after an impressive start in 2022. Mitchell has missed the cut just once to start the year, and in every other event, he has finished top 15 or better across his four starts. Outside of 2019, Keith’s starts in this event have not been great, he finished 53rd here in 2021 and will be hoping for a much better result this time. He is certainly playing well enough at the moment to make that happen.

Wolff has not made many starts in 2022, but he did begin the 2021-22 PGA season strong with finishes of 17th, 2nd, 5th, and 11th since last October. 2022 has not gone as well as he has played just three times with a missed cut and a 64th place finish in two of the three starts. He did finish 6th in his last start at the Saudi International, however. Matthew has made one start at the Honda Classic, which came back in 2020 when he finished 58th.

( Joaquin Niemann – Brooks Koepka – Mackenzie Hughes )

The 2022 Genesis Invitational Champion Joaquin Niemann and four-time major champion Brooks Koepka make up a tantalizing group at the Honda Classic. They will get their tournament underway alongside Mackenzie Hughes on Thursday at 7:56 am EST from the 10th hole at PGA National.

Last week’s winner Niemann has wasted no time in getting back into action following his incredible win at Riviera, the local Florida resident will be making his fourth start of 2022 this week. The talented Chilean has begun his year with a win last week and two other top 10 finishes in just three starts so far this year. Despite living in the area he has yet to record a top 10 finish at PGA National, with last year’s finish of 25th being his best finish at the Honda Classic so far in three appearances.

Brooks Koepka has had a roller-coaster start to 2022 with a 28th and 3rd place finish accompanied by two missed cuts in four starts. He recorded his best finish at the Honda back in 2019 when he finished runner-up to Keith Mitchell. That second-place finish has been sandwiched by two missed cuts in his last three starts at PGA National.

Koepka wasn’t too pleased with his world ranking when asked about it back at the WM Phoenix Open a couple of weeks ago, if he wants to improve that a strong showing this week could be a good place to start.

Mackenzie Hughes, the 52nd ranked player in the world, could do with a strong performance this week to climb inside that all-important top 50 in the world. As it stands he would miss out on the next WGC event at the end of next month. The Canadian has begun 2022 with two missed cuts (Farmers, Genesis) and a 16th place finish (ATT Pebble Pro-Am). He did finish 2nd at the Honda Classic in 2020 though and will be hoping for a similar outcome this week.

( Sungjae Im – Lucas Herbert – Louis Oosthuizen)

The 2020 Honda Classic Champion Sungjae Im, and the world’s highest-ranked player in the field this week, Louis Oosthuizen, make up this key group. This three-man group that also includes Lucas Herbert will begin their round on Thursday at 12:29 pm EST from the 1st tee.

Sungjae may not be the highest-ranked player in the field this week, but he is the favorite to win the Honda Classic once again. The Korean has incredibly missed just one cut since the Memorial tournament last summer. He began 2022 with a missed cut at the Sony Open but since then has recorded finishes of 11th, 6th, and 33rd in his last three starts. Im has recorded an 8th and a 1st in his last two starts at the Honda Classic.

Oosthuizen will be making just his second start of the year this week following a 14th place finish at the WM Phoenix Open a couple of weeks ago. The local resident has had mixed results at the Honda Classic in previous years, somewhat surprisingly, with two missed cuts and a 21st (2017), he also recorded a 24th here in 2018.

Australian Lucas Herbert completes the group and the 51st ranked player in the world will be making his third PGA start of 2022 this week. He finished 37th (Sentry) before missing the cut at the Phoenix Open in his last start. He also has made two starts worldwide to begin the year and has recorded finishes of 18th (Dubai Desert Classic), and 21st (Saudi International) internationally. Herbert made his first appearance at the Honda Classic last year when he finished 46th.