The Honda Classic at PGA National always produces drama. But whilst the drama at PGA National is a constant, it was the only constant this week. Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, saw last year's champion and pre-tournament favourite Rickie Fowler miss the cut at seven-over on the par-70 course, with a six-over Friday featuring six bogeys and a double to cancel out two birdies. Other pre-tournament tips from experts included Patton Kizzire, Martin Kaymer and Brandt Snedeker. Guess what: they all missed the cut! Whilst other popular "expert" picks like Gary Woodland, Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy did make the cut, that merely prolonged their agony.

Onto the more successful picks, and where better to start than with champion Justin Thomas. If you read the Foremost Golf tournament preview blog last week then you were in luck. I picked JT to get his first win of the calendar year. It wasn't exactly rocket science though. The PGA National course is known for its ability to force the highest quality out of the greatest players, and Justin Thomas was the highest ranked player in the field. You can understand him being overlooked in favour of Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia, who have established themselves as bigger names over longer careers, but a big name doesn't win tournaments; winning tournaments makes a big name. Justin Thomas is going about doing exactly that.

It wasn't plain sailing for the American, though. Blistery conditions proved the undoing of many players, especially around the infamous "Bear Trap" on the 15th, 16th & 17th holes. Friday proved particularly tough playing, with the wind leading main attraction Tiger Woods to his only above-par round (1) of the week. Sweden's Alex Noren followed up an opening round of four-under with a five-over in Friday's disruptive weather, and a double-bogey on the 16th led JT to a two-over 72. Luke List and Jamie Lovemark both went under-par on the day for a share of the lead heading into the weekend.

England's Tommy Fleetwood snuck up the leaderboard stealthily to finish fourth; one behind Alex Noren, who recovered with a five-under on Saturday and went three-under on the final day to finish -7 for the week. Nothing could separate JT and List over 72 holes, so the pair headed into a playoff at eight-under. An excruciating seventeen-foot missed birdie putt from List handed FedEx Cup champion Justin Thomas the chance to win with a simple birdie putt on the par-five 18th, and of course he took it with the coolest of heads for his eighth career win.

Away from the top of the leaderboard (although not too far away), Tiger was the epitome of consistency throughout the week as he sandwiched a +1 and -1 between two even-pars to finish at number 12. The fact that PAR was enough for a top-12 finish speaks volumes about the conditions in Florida. But if Tiger was Mr Consistent, McIlroy was Mr Erratic en route to nine-over. The fact he failed to find par all week barely cracked the headlines, with day three providing more than enough entertainment on its own. After landing dangerously close to the water hazard on the par-three 4th, the Northern Irishman chipped to the green whilst balancing on the rocks and very nearly lost his balance post-swing; narrowly avoiding falling back into the water. Two holes later, he continued to go the extra mile as he opted to play a shot with his lob wedge whilst kneeling in the middle of a bush rather than take a drop. Regardless of the unflattering scorecard (nine-over for T59), Rory's commitment to the cause deserves credit.

Now, returning to the winner! 

Justin Thomas - What's in the Bag?

Driver: Titleist 917 D2

Fairway Wood: Titleist 917 F2

Irons: Titleist 718 AP2, Titleist 718 MB

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM6, Titleist Vokey SM5

Putter: Scotty Cameron Circle TX5

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

The Honda Classic has produced some spectacular golf over the years and The Champion Course at PGA National Resort sets the stage for the world's best to do what they do best. Last year's winner Rickie Fowler is tipped to retain his title, but who else is in the running?

Kevin Kisner’s form has been declining through 2018, with T17, T25, T50 and a missed cut his respective results this year. That said, the American was on a run of T42, T54, T53, T67 before closing the 2016/17 season with a T3 at the TOUR Championship and opening his 2017/18 PGA Tour campaign with T4 at The RSM Classic. So form is irrelevant when you talk about Kevin Kisner. What isn’t irrelevant is his second-place ranking in Strokes Gained: Putting. Remember how critical putting was for Rickie Fowler on this course last year; a thirty-footer at the eighth and thirty-eight footer at the twelfth proving crucial during a wobbly final day. Fowler himself admitted “If I don’t make those putts I’ve got a pretty tight race”, so there it is: straight from the horse’s mouth.

Gary Woodland tied for second at last year’s Honda Classic and, given his form in 2018, can’t be ignored at 30/1. Perhaps this is due to his missed cut at Pebble Beach last year, but he’s certainly a danger man with superb form, fifth-place in the PGA Tour’s Stroke Gained: Putting ranking and second-place in Greens in Regulation (GIR). Alex Noren can also be found at 30/1, but whilst plenty of pundits are backing him I just don’t think he’s got the right game for this course.

History would tell you that the PGA National course tends to force moments of quality, which, as well as making it awesome to watch, should push the best players toward the top of the leaderboard. However, I think we’ll have to wait a while longer for Rory McIlroy’s comeback. Rickie Fowler is the favourite for good reason and it doesn’t surprise me that Justin Thomas is priced at only 11/1 because, like I said, PGA National often forces out the sort of quality that only a handful of golfers possess, and Thomas is certainly in that handful.

I would never go as far as to call the bookies “kind”, but I think 30/1 on Gary Woodland is surprisingly generous. Kevin Kisner at 55/1 is less surprising but no less generous. Kisner’s game should suit this course perfectly and his sixth-place ranking in Driving Accuracy Percentage on the PGA Tour could be decisive during the course's infamous "Bear Trap", so he’s my each-way pick this week. Rickie Fowler’s favourite status is deserved but I hate to tip a favourite, so I’m going with Justin Thomas to get his first win of the calendar year.

Written by Joe Carabini

Joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

When the World No. 1 headed into the final round at an iconic course tied for the lead with the World No. 246, the name Dustin Johnson was all-but carved into the trophy. The man sharing that lead- Ted Potter Jr- was expected to simply enjoy the experience of playing alongside the world's best, almost like being paired with his favourite celebrity in the Pro-Am. The Florida native had other ideas.

Despite a bogey on Sunday's first hole, Potter went on to force pundits and writers into countless magic-themed Potter puns. A rare wayward drive from DJ at the fifth forced him into a drop and conceded the lead to Potter. Now, I told you in my tournament preview that approach to the green would be crucial on this course, with small greens making precision crucial. This is where DJ would pull away from the rest of the field towards victory, right? On the sixth a sensational approach shot set up a birdie... for Ted Potter Jr. Then, on the par-3 seventh, the playing partners landed their drives in extremely similar positions right next to the green. The world leader chipped expertly to within a few feet for an easy par-putt, as expected. But a moment of magic from Potter (I did warn you) saw him chip in for his fourth birdie in six holes after opening with a bogey.

Three-under going into the back nine, all Potter had to do was hold his nerve. He did exactly that; shooting even-par down the stretch to finish with a three-stroke win as his playing partner needed a closing birdie to save par for the day, with four bogeys proving his downfall.

Circling back to my tournament preview blog, I told you Chez Reavie would 'upset the applecart', and boy did he do that. A stand-alone bogey on the back nine forced him to share the runner-up spot, although he wasn't in bad company as tournament favourite Dustin Johnson, second-favourite Jason Day and many experts' top-tip Phil Mickelson tied him at fourteen-under. The 50/1 long-shot may have been overshadowed by Potter's wizardry, but back-to-back runner-up spots can't be ignored.

Ted Potter Jr. - What's in the Bag?

Driver: PING G400

Fairway Wood: PING G400

Hybrid: PING G400

Irons: PING iBlade

Wedges: PING Glide 2.0, Cleveland RTX-3

Putter: Odyssey White Hot #2

Golf Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

With a strong contingent of celebrities on show, from Hollywood headliners to sport stars, it’s no surprise that everybody’s talking about the AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. We’ve already seen Bill Murray in sunflower-covered Bell-bottoms and Clint Eastwood sinking putts for fun and I’m sure that’s just the start of what will be an awesome week in California.

Now, back to the serious golf, there are plenty of big golf names, including Rory McIlroy’s return to the PGA Tour. The Northern Irishman has been in fine form on the European Tour, but hasn’t made a PGA Tour appearance all season. This is also his tournament debut, so I’m completely bemused as to why he’s the joint-second favourite at a measly 10/1. I’m not saying he hasn’t got a chance- I’m not stupid- but I think anybody willing to take a punt on him deserves more of a reward for their bravery.

On the subject of low odds, World No. 1 Dustin Johnson occupies the 11/2 favourite spot, with No. 2 Jon Rahm equal to McIlroy and Jason Day at 10/1 and No. 3 Jordan Spieth just behind at 11/1. Bar McIlroy, I think these are pretty fair prices, with DJ, Rahm & Day all claiming titles already this season and Spieth an ever-present threat. However, the two that jump out at me are DJ and Spieth purely due to their precision. DJ’s incredibly accurate iron play and Spieth’s smart scrambling could prove key.

Speaking of accuracy approaching the greens brings me to my 50/1 long-shot: Chez Reavie. After a playoff loss at last week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, Reavie’s impressive Strokes Gained: Approach-The-Green (third on PGA Tour) gives him a real shot this week. Gary Woodland, the man who beat Reavie in a playoff last week, can be found at 25/1 – the lowest odds outside the World top 10 – having finished T7, T12 & 1^st so far in 2018. Not far behind Woodland is Phil Mickelson. ‘Lefty’ has been tipped by many to have a strong performance and, at 28/1, isn’t a bad shout at all.

Given the extra eyes pulled in by celebs (he certainly knows how to step up under pressure) and the importance of accuracy around the green, Jordan Spieth is my top pick for this week. But, if you’re looking for higher odds, I’m tipping Chez Reavie to upset the applecart.

3 courses, 4 days, 1 winner. Let the games begin!

Written by Joe Carabini

Joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

As January 2018 draws to a close, we take a look at which new clubs have hit the ground running on Tour.

TaylorMade

In the first month of the calendar year, TaylorMade golf clubs have already been in the bag of five winners and three runners-up across the PGA and European Tour. That’s seven top-two finishes in as many tournaments. No poster (or digital whatnot, as the case may be these days) can deliver advertising like that. As the old, and extremely irritating, adage goes: the stats don’t lie.

The TM stars wasted no time in 2018, with Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm finishing one-two as the PGA Tour began the year with the Tournament of Champions. Rahm then followed this up with a win at the CareerBuilder Challenge, whilst Tommy Fleetwood was putting his new M3 Driver to good use in the European Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. The following week on the European Tour, it took a tournament-record 23-under from Haotong Li to separate TaylorMade trailblazer Rory McIlroy from the Dubai Desert Classic crown. The very next day, Australia’s Jason Day edged out Alex Noren to win the Farmers Insurance Open after a playoff so tight they ran out of daylight, meaning the tie couldn’t be decided until Monday. Still, Day prevailed for the first time in any tournament since 2016… in his first month with the new M3 Driver. I don’t know about you, but I think I’m sensing a pattern here.

What's in the Bag?

DJ and Rahm were both equipped with the M4 Driver, whilst Fleetwood and Day opted for the M3 Driver. DJ stuck with the M4 as his 3-wood, but Rahm switched to the M3 5-wood. However, arguably the most impressive shots of 2018 so far have come from DJ’s iron play since adding the TaylorMade P-790 irons to his bag.

Callaway

Sergio Garcia made a slightly more low-key, but no less successful, adjustment to life with new clubs. Following his recent transfer from TaylorMade to Callaway, the Spaniard struck gold in his first outing with the new Callaway Rogue woods and Mack Daddy 4 wedges. The new Callaway frontman topped the Singapore Open leaderboard as he dipped his toe in the Asian Tour.

As Sergio successfully switched to the Asian Tour, Li Haotong successfully switched in the opposite direction. His aforementioned victory over McIlroy featured a strong performance with the new Callaway Rogue fairway wood.

Despite an agonising loss at the hands of Jason Day, Alex Noren looked a force to be reckoned with as he got to grips with latest Callaway technologies.

TaylorMade’s success really casts a shadow over most other brands sending their latest inventions out on Tour, but Callaway’s showing has been impressive nonetheless.

What's in the Bag?

The Callaway Rogue Sub Zero Driver and Mack Daddy 4 wedges proved effective for Garcia and Noren, along with the Rogue fairway woods.

Cobra Golf

With only two players inside the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) top 100, and Bryson DeChambeau teetering on the brink at No. 99, Cobra Golf’s new F8 range could very easily have slipped under the radar. Rickie Fowler ensured that wasn’t the case.

Fulfilling his role as the manufacturer’s wonderkid, Cobra’s Californian swept aside the competition at the PGA Tour’s star-studded Hero World Challenge on his inaugural outing with the new Cobra F8+ woods last November. The F8+, a Tour-level edition of the traditional F8 design, grabbed headlines following Fowler’s strong performance with the driver, 3-wood and 5-wood.

What's in the Bag?

Fowler has gone from strength to strength from the tee and fairway with the Cobra King F8+ Nardo Driver and Cobra King F8+ Baffler 5-wood.

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com