Billy Horschel will not be letting go of five consecutive weeks of playing. Sungjae Im is also not going to back down from playing five consecutive weeks, even though he has never played in a tournament that he didn’t want.
Both are ranked among the top 20 players in the world, and both have already committed to playing the Honda Classic at PGA National.
Horschel, who is a Jacksonville Beach native and a University of Florida graduate, said, “There are a lot of goals that I haven’t checked off” and that he has always wanted to win in Florida.
“I would love a win, and I hope it is the Honda Classic in this year that gets my first one.”
It would be Horschel’s first Honda Classic. After this year’s tournament, which takes place February 23-26, Honda Motors will be ending its sponsorship. The tournament will be sponsored by a new title sponsor.
Joining Horschel, No. 19th place in the world and Im, the 2020 Honda Champion, ranked 18th, are the defending Honda champion, 27th-ranked Seppstraka, and former Honda champions Padraig Hrrington (2015, 2005), Michael Thompson (2013) and Rory Sabbatini (2011).
Honda’s purse for this year is $8.4 Million. It is located between four events that offer at least $20,000,000 in prize money. These are the PGA Tour’s elevated events, which require the top players from the world to participate. They include the Phoenix Open and Genesis Invitational two weeks before and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Honda will offer five weeks to those who have played all four of them and who choose to enter Honda.
Horschel is the proud owner of seven PGA Tour wins, including the 2022 Memorial. In October, he decided to play Honda.
Horschel stated, “I like playing at a lot of different places.” “I enjoy going to places I like the course, enjoying the support and fans I get, and enjoying the tournament directors and staff who put on it.”
Horschel has fought Honda ten times. He is tied for fourth in 2017 and finished second in the top 10, five shots behind Rickie Fowler. He has never retreated from the challenges of playing on the Champion Course.
He said, “It takes a player who’s on top of his game.” “You can’t fake it at PGA National. It’s a great course and I enjoy it every time. It is a bit more challenging than the other PGA Tour courses we play.
In his four years on PGA Tour, Im has played in more than 30 tournaments. He also plays Honda each year. After his 2020 title, he took eighth place in 2021. He missed the cut last year.
Im’s 2020 Honda title, along with his 2021 win at the Shriners Children’s Open, is one of two titles on the PGA Tour.
Straka beat Shane Lowry last season to win his lone victory on the PGA Tour.
