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Matt Jones kept his cool while all around him others lost their composure, as the final round of the Honda Classic at PGA National at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida - with lightning fast greens among the conditions that caused angst to many potential contenders - as the course, with a reputation as among the toughest on the circuit, provided a stern examination of shot-making and mental fortitude.
Jones, a 40-year-old Australian ranked 83rd in the world, shot a final round 68 for 12-under-par 268 to give him only his second PGA Tour win, adding the Honda to his 2014 Shell Houston Open success. Jones strolled to a five stroke winning margin, over runner-up Brandon Hagy who leapfrogged his way up the leaderboard with a closing 66.
With the win, Jones earned a ticket to next month’s US Masters - only his second of his career - and came on the back of a final round where he found 17 of 18 greens in a display of fine shot-making that enabled him to close the deal for only the second time on the PGA Tour, although he has also won the Australian Open twice (in 2015 and 2019).
Conditions
Jones proved immune to the tough final round conditions, finding 17 of 18 greens in regulation in a masterclass of shotmaking to become the third Australian winner of the tournament (joining
“I have had some tough times (since winning the Houston Open in 2014), it’s pretty emotional, seven years . . . I just worked hard and it has finally paid off. It was probably the calmest I have been for four straight days. You can’t get a tougher course and in these conditions so hopefully something I can build on,” said Jones, who has planned a family break before returning for the US Masters.
Unfortunately for Shane Lowry, he was among those who floundered over the weekend. Having got into contention with opening rounds of 67 and 66, the Offalyman struggled with his game and, although getting up to second at one point of his third round on Saturday, he finished with back-to-back 74s on the weekend for a total of four-over-par 281 that had him well off the pace in tied-36th.
Double bogeys
Lowry’s woes in the final round came with two doubles bogeys, firstly on the par four 6th where he was twice in the water (off the tee and then on his approach to the green) and he ran up another double bogey six on the 10th, where a wild approach shot left him in jungle terrain and forced to take a penalty drop.
It was a disappointing finish for Lowry, seeking back-to-back top 10s after his eighth place finish in last week’s Players Championship. Lowry moves on from Florida to Texas for this week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Matchplay which will be his final tournament ahead of next months’ Masters tournament at Augusta National.
Among those to suffer at the hands of the slick greens was Aaron Wise, who suffered a card wrecking four-putt for a triple bogey on the 10th hole which contrived to halt his momentum, while JB Holmes was undone early on with a double-bogey six on his second hole that had him backtracking from an early stage. Holmes would ultimately sign for a 79 and well adrift of Jones after a final round to forget.
Brandon Hagy, one of the last players into the field after a number of players incurred positive Covid tests, recovered from his third round 76 with a closing 66 that saw him leapfrog up to . “This is a good week for me to set up for the rest of the season. I feel like I made some good adjustments that I applied this week and I look forward to putting them into play the rest of the season,” said Hagy of seizing the most of his late call-up.
Honda Classic final round scores (Irish in bold, US unless stated, par 70) - Leading scores
268 – Matt Jones (Aus) 61 70 69 68
273 – Brandon Hagy 69 62 76 66
274 – Chase Seiffert 67 74 69 64, Brendan Steele 73 65 71 65, Denny McCarthy 68 65 74 67, Russell Henley 64 69 73, CT Pan 67 72 65 70
275 – Adam Hadwin (Can) 72 65 70 68, Camilo Villegas (Col) 69 65 72 69, Sungjae Im (S Kor) 68 68 69 70, Sam Ryder 69 63 72 71, Camilio Villegas (Col) 69 65 72 69
276 – Kevin Chappell 66 70 75 65, Adam Scott (Aus) 69 67 72 68, Steve Stricker 66 71 70 69, Robert Streb 69 66 70 71, Cameron Tringale 67 68 69 72, Aaron Wise 64 64 75 73
277 – Michael Thompson 71 66 73 67, Harry Higgs 68 67 74 68, John Huh 68 70 70 69, Harold Varner III 71 65 71 70, Lucas Glover 71 66 69 71, Stewart Cink 71 64 70 72
278 – Joaquin Niemann (Cle) 69 67 73 69, Phil Mickelson 71 68 69 70, Roger Sloan (Can) 71 69 66 72, Chris Kirk 68 71 67 72
279 – Chase Koepka 69 69 74 67, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 71 68 69 71
280 – Tyler McCumber 70 69 70 71, Cameron Davis (Aus) 66 71 70 73, Sepp Straka (Aut) 68 70 69 73
281 – Vincent Whaley 73 67 68 73, Will Gordon 67 69 72 73, Kevin Streelman 69 67 73 72, Adam Schenk 72 66 72 71, Tom Lewis (Eng) 74 66 71 70, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 68 72 71 70, Matthew NeSmith 70 68 73 70, Satoshi Kodaira (Jap) 70 71 71 69, Nate Lashley 68 71 74 68, Shane Lowry 67 66 74 74
282 - Talor Gooch 72 69 72 69, Pat Perez 72 69 71 70, Brian Gay 71 67 73 71, Mark Hubbard 68 73 69 72, Lucas Herbert (Aus) 70 69 70 73, Alexander Noren (Swe) 71 68 69 74