Golf starts to get serious as the PGA Tour makes its way to Florida. The “Florida Swing” annually signals the start of the run-up to the Masters.
Professionals use the “West Coast Swing” to knock the rust off their clubs and get back into tournament mode. The Honda Classic, WGC-Cadillac, Valspar Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational provide an opportunity to evaluate each player’s game heading into the first major championship of the year.
Jimmy Walker has won three titles thus far in 2013-14, Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson, Harris English, Zach Johnson, Bubba Watson and Jason Day all have wins this season and they appear to be ready to fine tune their games for Augusta National.
Tiger Woods has only played once in the U.S. this year and his T-80 finish in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines was not too impressive.
No. 2 in the world, Adam Scott played the two events in Hawaii before taking an extended vacation.
Justin Rose is coming of an injury and he just recently made his first start of the year at Riviera in the Northern Trust Open and also competed in the WGC-Accenture Match Play.
Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and Justin Rose will all be in the field at the Honda Classic and will help make it the strongest field of the year.
It is played on the difficult PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach. Holes 15-17 are aptly named the “Bear Trap” and they are annually the most difficult stretch of holes on the PGA Tour.
Trump Doral has undergone a multi-million-dollar renovation since the 2012 WGC-Cadillac was won by Woods. The tournament boasts a $9 million purse with $1.5 million going to the winner.
Tampa Bay is the third stop in the “Florida Swing” and this is the first year Valspar is the main sponsor of this event. The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook is a ball-strikers paradise and Kevin Streelman is the defending champion.
Woods won the second of his five titles in 2013 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. It was the eighth time Woods has won this event.
Any time Arnold Palmer is involved in a golf tournament, it draws the attention of golf fans and brings the best players to Orlando.
The tour will then move to Texas for two tournaments prior to the Masters, but the “Florida Swing” is the harbinger for the Masters and helps predict who will don the Green Jacket on April 13.