Honda Classic (golf)

```mediawiki The Honda Classic is a professional golf tournament held annually in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on the PGA Tour. Established in 1972, the tournament has grown into one of the premier events on the Florida sports calendar, drawing world-ranked professionals and tens of thousands of spectators each year to PGA National Golf Club. While the tournament takes place in Palm Beach Gardens, its economic and cultural influence extends throughout Palm Beach County, including West Palm Beach, through tourism, hospitality spending, and charitable giving.

History

The Honda Classic originated as the Florida Citrus Open in 1972, initially played at the Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill, Florida. The tournament was conceived in part to promote Florida's citrus industry and attract visitor spending to the state. Over the following decade, the event changed venues several times before relocating to PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens in 1982, a move that provided the tournament with the stable, high-profile home it retains today.^[1]

Honda Motor Co. came on as title sponsor in 1982, and the event has carried the Honda Classic name, with only brief interruptions, ever since. That sponsorship relationship — one of the longer-running title arrangements on the PGA Tour — reflects the tournament's consistent ability to deliver a strong field, significant television audiences, and measurable regional economic activity. The tournament has served as a showcase for both established stars and emerging talent; past champions include major winners such as Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, and Rickie Fowler. In 2023, Chris Kirk claimed the title in a playoff, earning a winner's check of approximately $1.512 million from a total purse of $8.4 million.^[2]

The tournament's position on the PGA Tour schedule — typically contested in late February or early March — places it in a competitive window ahead of the World Golf Championships and the buildup to The Masters. It carries full FedEx Cup points and a purse that has grown substantially over the decades, making it a meaningful stop for players managing their season-long standings.

Past Champions (Selected)

The following table lists selected recent Honda Classic champions, illustrating the caliber of field the event attracts.

Year	Champion	Country	Score
2023	Chris Kirk	Template:Flag	Playoff
2022	Sepp Straka	Template:Flag	−13
2021	Matt Jones	Template:Flag	−19
2019	Keith Mitchell	Template:Flag	−19
2018	Justin Thomas	Template:Flag	−11
2012	Rory McIlroy	Template:Flag	−19

^[3]

Geography

The Honda Classic is held at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, a municipality that borders West Palm Beach to the north. The Champion Course at PGA National was originally designed by Tom and George Fazio when the club opened in 1981 and was later substantially redesigned by Jack Nicklaus, whose input shaped the demanding routing familiar to modern tournament audiences.^[4] The course is particularly renowned for the stretch known as the "Bear Trap" — holes 15, 16, and 17 — a trio of water-laden, wind-exposed holes that routinely produce the highest scoring averages of any three consecutive holes on the PGA Tour during the tournament week. Hole 15 is a par-3 playing over water, hole 16 is a long par-4 with a narrow approach corridor, and hole 17 is a par-3 that demands precise club selection in Florida's frequently shifting coastal winds. The Bear Trap has been the site of some of the tournament's most dramatic swings in fortune, capable of erasing multi-shot leads in a matter of minutes.^[5]

The surrounding area of Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach offers a range of landscapes, from Atlantic coastline beaches to inland golf corridors and upscale residential developments. The proximity to the Atlantic Ocean produces the warm, humid conditions typical of a South Florida February or early March, though afternoon sea breezes can significantly affect ball flight on exposed holes. Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), located approximately eight miles south of PGA National in West Palm Beach, serves as the primary air gateway for players, caddies, officials, and visiting spectators, with direct domestic service from major metropolitan markets and connecting international service.

Culture

The Honda Classic has become a fixture in the social calendar of Palm Beach County. The tournament functions simultaneously as a competitive sporting event and a large-scale community gathering, drawing residents from across the county alongside out-of-town visitors. Hospitality infrastructure on the grounds includes corporate pavilions, public food and beverage areas, and viewing platforms positioned throughout the course, with the Bear Trap holes drawing the densest spectator concentrations. The event activates considerable volunteer participation from local civic and nonprofit organizations, and its week-long schedule encompasses pro-am competitions, sponsor events, and junior golf programming.^[6]

The tournament actively supports local charitable organizations through the Honda Classic Cares initiative and its affiliated nonprofit work. Historically, the event has directed millions of dollars to South Florida nonprofits focused on children's health, education, and community services. This charitable dimension reinforces the tournament's standing not merely as an outside sporting event hosted in the region, but as a community institution with year-round organizational presence. Local arts organizations, youth sports programs, and health nonprofits have all been beneficiaries of tournament-related fundraising over the years.

The Honda Classic's longevity — more than five decades in Florida and more than four decades at PGA National — has produced a loyal local following that regards the event as a defining part of the region's annual identity. For many Palm Beach County residents, attending the tournament is a multigenerational tradition, and the event's late-February timing marks the unofficial midpoint of the South Florida social season.

Economy

The Honda Classic generates a measurable economic impact for Palm Beach County each year. Attendance across the tournament week typically reaches into the tens of thousands, with spectators spending on hotel accommodations, restaurant meals, ground transportation, and retail. The influx of players, their support teams, media personnel, and traveling fans produces concentrated demand in the hospitality sector that local businesses — particularly hotels and restaurants in Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, and along the I-95 corridor — depend on as a reliable late-winter revenue event.^[7]

Television and digital media coverage of the Honda Classic provides the region with promotional exposure that extends well beyond the week of the event itself. Broadcasts on Golf Channel and CBS reach golf audiences across the United States and in international markets, with course-side backdrops and on-air references to the Palm Beach area functioning as de facto destination marketing. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission and local economic development organizations track tournament-related spending as part of the county's broader sports tourism portfolio.

The tournament's charitable foundation distributes significant funding to local nonprofits annually, meaning a portion of the economic activity generated by the event recirculates into community organizations rather than leaving the region entirely. This combination of direct visitor spending, media-driven destination exposure, and charitable redistribution makes the Honda Classic one of the more economically multidimensional recurring events in South Florida.

Television and Media Coverage

The Honda Classic is broadcast in the United States on Golf Channel and CBS, with Golf Channel carrying early-round coverage and CBS televising weekend rounds to a broader national audience. The tournament's late-February or early-March broadcast window places it in a period of high golf viewership, as fans follow the PGA Tour's progression toward The Masters in April. International broadcast distribution extends the event's reach to European, Asian, and Australian markets, reflecting the genuinely international composition of the tournament field.^[8]

Streaming options through PGA Tour Live have expanded access to the tournament in recent years, allowing viewers outside traditional broadcast markets to follow featured groups and specific holes — including the Bear Trap stretch — in real time. Social media coverage from the PGA Tour's official channels and from players and caddies on the ground at PGA National has further broadened the tournament's digital footprint, generating engagement from golf fans who may not attend in person or watch via traditional television.

Getting There

Access to PGA National for the Honda Classic is available via several transportation options. Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), approximately eight miles south of the tournament venue in West Palm Beach, is the closest commercial airport, offering nonstop domestic service from major cities and connecting international flights. Taxi services, ride-sharing applications, and car rental agencies all operate from PBI, providing onward ground transport to Palm Beach Gardens.^[9]

By road, PGA National is accessible from Interstate 95 via the PGA Boulevard exit and from the Florida Turnpike via the same interchange, making the venue straightforward to reach by car from communities throughout Palm Beach and Broward counties. Tournament organizers operate shuttle services from remote parking lots to the PGA National entrance during the event, a practical arrangement that reduces on-site traffic congestion during peak arrival and departure periods. Spectators staying in West Palm Beach, approximately six to eight miles south, commonly drive or use ride-sharing services; the journey via PGA Boulevard or I-95 takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes under normal traffic conditions. Advance planning is advisable on weekend rounds, when attendance is highest and shuttle queues lengthen accordingly.