Florida Swing Special Report Monday 4 March - The Honda Classic review

The Florida Swing began this week with The Honda Classic at PGA National and once again the media were obsessed with the Big Two of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods and once again they failed to deliver. Three of the four players I spotlighted on Wednesday managed top ten finishes but a player who lacks any of the attention or hype once again walked away with the title in a seemingly weekly win for a steady, unspectacular golfer on the PGA Tour. Michael Thompson claimed a first PGA Tour win of his career and became the first American to win at PGA National since Mark Wilson in 2007, holding off and in some cases outplaying his much more illustrious peers on another demanding day in South Florida.

Anyone expecting Thompson would fold on championship Sunday at PGA National, and I was one, really only needs to look back to how the 27-year-old performed at the tricky test that was Olympic Club last summer in the US Open to see why it is no surprise he should triumph over a course in the conditions we had over the weekend. Michael Thompson has shown little or no indication that this performance was around the corner given his form so far this year, the first career PGA Tour win comes in his third season on the tour following a career which has included a modicum of success at amateur level including a runner-up finish in the 2007 US Amateur at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. His achievement over the Lake course was no flash in the pan, finishing second again over the iconic layout, this time at the 2012 US Open. His sole professional title prior to Sunday came at the 2010 Michelob Ultra Classic on the NGA Hooters Tour and coming into The Honda Classic had earned just 1 FedEx Cup point this season, hardly form to say that he was going to outplay the likes of Lee Westwood, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

But it is those second place finishes at the Olympic Club which show the style of golf and the ability that Michael Thompson has and it correlates closely with the set-up of the Champion course at PGA National for The Honda Classic and it is was those qualities of resilience and recovery under pressure that Thompson showed time and time again over the weekend and particularly down the stretch on Sunday. His task was made much easier in a perverse way by the conditions as none of the contenders made a run at the lead with birdie opportunities at a minimum, Australia's Geoff Ogilvy did make a late bid with birdies at 16 and 18 including a spectacular chip in to post 7-under in the clubhouse. Thompson made eagle at the third to immediately stretched his lead to 3 shots, but then made a bogey at the fourth, followed by a birdie at the fifth, this illustrated the characteristics of the 27-year-old Tucson natives' game as he managed to shoot a 1-under-par 69 on a day when only five rounds under par were recorded. Only 17 players finished under par for the week.

 

Unfortunately Lee Westwood couldn't replicate his performance from the first three rounds posting a Sunday 74, despite an early birdie which at the time had him one shot behind the leaders, and had to settle for another solid top ten finish but not the win he had hoped for coming into his first tournament in Florida since he made the winter move to the Palm Beach Gardens area. For Westwood though the goal at the start of the season has always been to be ready for Augusta and another top ten finish at PGA National is in my opinion another sign his game is reaching the boil at the perfect time for Golf's First Major, the Englishman may or may not win in the weeks leading up to the Masters but I am confident he will feature in the top ten at Doral, Bay Hill and Houston.

For Geoff Ogilvy times have been tough recently but the second place at PGA National will give the former US Open Champion and past winner of the WGC at Doral confidence going forward, the finish gets the Australian into this week's WGC-Cadillac Championship and more or less gets him into The Masters as he looks to rekindle the kind of form he was showing in the middle part of the last decade.

Once again the world's top two dished up a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous, mainly the ridiculous in a week where both would rather forget and move on to Doral. At least for Tiger Woods it was four more rounds under his belt after a disappointing first round exit at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, but he was never at any stage in contention and the final round 74 was only that low because of a final hole eagle. For Rory McIlroy the week was shorter but much more eventful, controversial and garnered the sort of hype that Tiger received whenever he had a dip in form early in his career. It is almost as if though certain members of the media, Johnny Miller included, has a blind spot or a very bad memory when talking about Rory walking off the course. Everyone seems to forget Tiger at Doral last year when he withdrew dramatically in the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship, he was 3-over-par and retired citing an Achilles problem. "I felt tightness in my left Achilles warming up this morning, and it continued to get progressively worse. After hitting my tee shot at 12, I decided it was necessary to withdraw," he said. "In the past, I may have tried to continue to play, but this time, I decided to do what I thought was necessary.” Tiger almost as good as says that if he was 3-under and in contention then he may have continued playing. He sped away from the course in a blacked out car and that was the end of the matter.

There wasn't any of the ridiculous conversation and downright insulting statements on twitter that has surrounded Rory's decision to withdraw citing Wisdom Tooth pain. We even had the great Jack Nicklaus having his say, but at least he urged everyone to show some perspective over McIlroy's troubles early in the 2013 season. Most of the time when the Golden Bear speaks people listen, hopefully people follow this trend and stop the hype and remember that the World Number One is 23, and hasn't been coached to the nth degree about how to handle yourself like a certain former World Number One has.

From PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens the Florida Swing now moves to Doral in Miami for the year's second World Golf Championship and the Cadillac Championship, 49 of the world's top 50 players will compete for the title at a newly renovated Blue Monster course under the ownership of Donald Trump. Check out my preview of the championship on Wednesday.

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