Lee Hodges fights off Jim Furyk, Harris English to win ‘Back 2 Golf’ Challenge

How much water can you get into and still hope to win the Waterford crystal trophy? That's the question at The Honda Classic at PGA National (Champion Course) this week, but then again, that's the question for much of the PGA TOUR's Florida Swing. "You can survive hitting it in the water once or maybe twice for a tournament," said Adam Scott. He would know. At The Honda Classic in 2016 he'd built a three-shot lead when he put two in the soup at the par-3 15th hole in Round 3. "It's hard to watch," Johnny Miller said on NBC. Alas, Scott steadied himself and still won the next day. He's the last to win on TOUR with a quadruple bogey on his scorecard, a stat that came up recently when Viktor Hovland made his own quad - without any water balls - yet contended deep into the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession. Doctors tell you to drink half your body weight in ounces, but in golf it's best to stay bone-dry, as did recent Honda winners Sungjae Im (2020), Keith Mitchell (2019), Justin Thomas ('18), Michael Thompson ('13), Rory McIlroy ('12), Y.E. Yang ('09) and Mark Wilson ('07). None of them hit into the water even once en route to victory. And yet there are two caveats. The first is that sometimes the bailout is just as bad as the water ball, merely postponing the inevitable. For example, as players size up the white-knuckle sand shot from the back-left bunker at the par-3 15th hole, they can't help but notice that the green runs away from them and back toward the same pond they just avoided with the tee shot. Chipping downwind back across the green at the par-3 17th can end in liquid disaster, as well. "There's no bailouts," said two-time Honda winner Padraig Harrington, who thrives in the wind (common) and chaos (also common) at PGA National. "There's nowhere to go." The second caveat is that water doesn't have to drown your chances. Take THE PLAYERS Championship last week. Paul Casey hit two balls in the water and made a quad at the island 17th hole in round one but fought back and tied for fifth, three back. Ben An, conversely, pumped four in the water on 17, made an 11, and missed the cut. Scott is well-practiced at hitting into the water but winning anyway. He hit into the lake with his approach shot at the 18th hole at THE PLAYERS in 2004, but got up and down to save bogey for the win. He won the Honda despite his calamity on 15 at PGA National in '16, and won the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral the following week - despite hitting into the water at the third and fifth holes and making double bogey both times. "I think it’s one of those things, when you’re playing good, you can bounce back from one trip to the water," Scott said. "Obviously the quad (at the 2016 Honda) is not ideal and I try not to think about it too much, but I was playing exceptionally well that week and just kind of figured, you know, if I keep playing like this I’ll be able to claw my way back into it, and fortunately I did. "I think after the experience of playing these Florida golf courses for 20 years," he added, "it’s inevitable you’re going to hit one in the water, especially around here when it’s windy. You’re going to have to accept it and do the best you can to get past that hole and rebuild." Last week water figured prominently at THE PLAYERS. Before that it was the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, where Bryson DeChambeau's majestic tee shots soared over the blue like British Airways. Prior to that, water was part of the story at the WGC-Workday Championship. Now comes the Honda at PGA National, which has been the hardest par-70 course on TOUR (non-majors) three years running. Why? It's largely about the water, especially at the Bear Trap (Nos. 15-17). "You really don’t get away from it here at PGA National," said Harrington, who finished T31 at the Arnold Palmer but missed THE PLAYERS. There were 339 balls in the water at least year's Honda, which was the most on the PGA TOUR. Not to jinx it, but Harrington is one of seven players in the Honda field have come this far without hitting a ball in the water in the 2021 Florida Swing. The other six: James Hahn, Phil Mickelson, Scott Stallings, Adam Schenk, Matt Wallace and Xinjun Zhang. Good luck to them.

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Round 3 of the Valspar Championship takes place Saturday from Palm Harbor, Florida. Keegan Bradley and Sam Burns share the four-shot lead with Lucas Glover, Max Homa, Charley Hoffman and more close behind. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Saturday-Sunday, 8:15 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). TOURCast: Get shot-by-shot info in real time with shot tracks and video with TOURCast. TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete. FEATURED GROUPS Henrik Stenson, Jason Dufner Saturday, 8:25 a.m. ET Justin Thomas, Ryan Palmer Saturday, 10:20 a.m. ET MUST READS Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns share lead at Valspar Championship Max Homa ties ShotLink record to contend at Valspar Jimmy Walker misses tee time, should still make cut Win probabilities: Valspar Championship Kevin Kisner ditches armlock experiment for a new putter Insider: Doug Ghim making most of second chance Beyond the Ropes: Doc Redman does things the hard way Emotional Michael Visacki Monday Qualifies for the Valspar Championship CALL OF THE DAY

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Seventy-eight players will take on Sherwood Country Club in the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD. The tournament is making a one-year move to the U.S. due to logistical issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP became the first PGA TOUR event held in Japan. Tiger Woods won his record-tying 82nd PGA TOUR title at last year's ZOZO and will be back to defend against a field full of TOUR stars who are scheduled to compete, including FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson. FIELD NOTES: Woods is teeing it up for the first time since missing the cut at the U.S. Open. He won his Hero World Challenge five times at Sherwood... Hideki Matsuyama leads a robust contingent of golfers from Japan, many of whom are having excellent seasons on the Japan Tour. Matsuyama finished runner-up at the ZOZO a year ago... Sponsor exemptions include past FedExCup champions Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth along with Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson, and Satoshi Kodaira... Other notables that round out the field (from the top 60 available on the prior season's FedExCup standings) include past FedExCup winners Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy... Young Southern California sensations Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff, who played junior golf against each other, are making their ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP debuts. Wolff went to high school just seven miles from the course. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: Sherwood Country Club, par 72, 7,006 yards (par and yardage subject to change). Sherwood, a Jack Nicklaus design, was the venue for Woods' Hero World Challenge from 2000-2013. It has also hosted the Shark Shootout (a team event hosted by Greg Norman) for a decade starting in 1989 and hosted the PGA TOUR Champions' PowerShares QQQ Championship. Nicklaus completed Sherwood in the late 1980's and then returned in 2016 to help with agronomic improvements. Built on a river valley with high surrounding hills, the course is a golfing oasis. STORYLINES: Woods is searching for his record-breaking 83rd TOUR victory and he'll do it at a place he's comfortable... Johnson, the reigning FedExCup champion, has the course record at Sherwood, a 61. Wayne Gretzky, his soon-to-be father-in-law, is a member of the club and resident... In the TOUR's history, five Japanese players have won 11 times - led by Matsuyama with five... Takumi Kanaya will play his first PGA TOUR event as a professional. The winner of the Mark H. McCormack medal as the year's top-ranked amateur turned pro a few weeks ago. He made the cut in the 2019 Masters after winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur. 72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Tiger Woods (2019) 18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Keegan Bradley (Second round, 2019), Rory McIlroy (third round, 2019) LAST TIME: Woods tied Sam Snead's record for most PGA TOUR victories with 82 after topping the field at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, the first TOUR event held in Japan. It was Woods' first start of the 2019-20 season, and his first since he had knee surgery that August. Woods bogeyed his first three holes on Thursday but birdied nine of his next 15 to shoot 64 and share the first-round lead with Gary Woodland. Play was called Sunday evening due to darkness, which resulted in Woods having to complete seven holes Monday morning. He topped Japan's own Hideki Matsuyama by three shots. The country's favorite son birdied three of his final eight holes to put the pressure on Woods but ended runner-up to history. McIlroy and Sungjae Im finished T3, six shots back, while 18-hole co-leader Woodland finished fifth. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Sunday, 5 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Sunday, 12:45 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Featured Groups) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 3 p.m.-8 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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