Page 7 - Martin Downs Bulletin - February '22

Martin Downs, Page 7

sports

Koepka, Fowler Among Early winning form in 2022. Last year, Fowler did post an Padraig Harrington, Michael Thompson, Rory Sabbatini,

Commitments To Play In The eighth-place finish at the PGA Championship. It was the and Luke Donald
Koepka has been in an upbeat mood recently now that
33-year-old’s 12th top-10 finish in a major and a sign to
2022 Honda Classic him that the massive work he has been putting in on his he is finding his form and confidence. He says that he is just
swing the past year was starting to pay dividends. about 100 percent healthy and that his 2018/19 season in
Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler, two of the biggest The two will take on a world-class field that thus far which he won the U.S. Open and PGA Championships and
fan favorites in golf, have committed to play in the 2022 also includes early entries from: also made more than $7 million can be replicated in 2022
Honda Classic, a PGA Tour event which will be held Feb. • Louis Oosthuizen, the world’s No. 12 ranked player and beyond.
21 to 27 at PGA National Resort & Spa. who won The Open Championship in 2010 has finished “That wasn’t peak,” Koepka said. “That wasn’t peak. Just
Koepka, a 31-year-old West Palm Beach product who second or third in each of the last three majors wait.”
has won four major championships, is returning to the • Tommy Fleetwood, runner-up in the 2018 U.S. Open Koepka announced an equipment change in November
champion course where he finished second in 2019, after and 2019 The Open Championship and the results thus far have been encouraging. He finished
being forced to miss the 2021 event with a freak knee • Lee Westwood – 2020 Race to Dubai winner for the tied for ninth at the Hero World Challenge and then 28th at
injury. A bad step turned into a dislocated kneecap that third time as the European Tour’s top player the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua.
shattered last March when Koepka tried to jam his knee • Gary Woodland – 2019 U.S. Open champion “I’m very, very happy, and it’s even taken me by shock
back into place. • Stewart Cink how easy this transition is, and I think everything’s getting
Fowler, who won the 2017 Honda and finished second • Billy Horschel, ranked No. 23 in the world right where it should be,” Koepka said. “My game feels good.
in 2019 and sixth in 2016, also is looking to regain his • Former Honda Classic champions Keith Mitchell, I feel good. I should be playing good.”
The injuries and just getting a little older have forced
Koepka to make lifestyle adjustments and not be as reckless
as he might have been in his 20s.
“Mentally, I still think I’m 21. But the past three years,
there’s the realization I’m not that young person anymore
who can go Jet Ski or wakeboard or whatever,” Koepka
told Golf Digest recently. “Getting out of bed now takes 30
minutes to get going. You have to change your lifestyle. I
probably packed on 10 to 15 pounds after the knee surgery
because I can’t be as active as I was. I can’t go run. I’m never
going to be able to run again. You’re parking closer to the
door than before and all that.”
Koepka told Golf Channel recently that his injuries have
also actually helped him think better on the course rather
than just relying on his physical game which carried him to
15 top 10s in majors since 2015. He won four of those, two
U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships between 2015 and
2017 and still thinks he can reach Jack Nicklaus’ record of
18 victories in major championships.
“In my mind, I’m going to catch him on majors. I believe
that,” Kopeka said. “I don’t see any reason that can stop me.
I’m 31. I have another 14 years left. If I win one a year, I
got Jack. People misconstrue that as being cocky. No, that’s
just my belief. If I don’t have that belief, I shouldn’t be out
there. If you don’t think you can win, why the hell are you
teeing it up? Sports are made to have a winner and a loser.
You’re one or the other.”
Fowler has won nine events in his pro career, with five
on the PGA Tour: the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship, two
in 2015 (The Players and Deutsche Bank), the 2017 Honda
Classic, and the Waste Management in 2019.
He has been feeling good in recent weeks and expects to
add to that total in 2022.
“It has been a bit more of just going out and not worrying
so much about the swing, not golf swing but just playing golf
and hitting shots,” Fowler said. “It’s been fun to be back in
a position where I can just go play golf. And like I said, we
put the work in on the swing, and so time to stop worrying
about that and go play golf. It’s been a long time coming,
but it is nice to finally start to see some results.”
The Honda Classic awarded $5.1 million to 100 South
Florida philanthropic organizations in 2021, a number that
approached tournament record levels despite the widespread
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The $5.1 million was
just $250,000 below the record distribution of $5.35 million
of 2020 and equaled the distribution in 2019. It has impacted
the lives of more than 100,000 children in the past year and
provided a much-needed boost to South Florida community
charities that faced their own fiscal challenges in a tough year.
The Honda Classic has now surpassed $55 million in
charitable contributions as American Honda approaches its
41st year as title sponsor of the PGA Tour event, including
almost $40 million in the 15 years since Children’s
Healthcare Charity, Inc. became the host organization and
moved the event to PGA National Resort and Spa.
Grounds tickets, Goslings Bear Trap tickets and other
hospitality tickets and packages for the 2022 Honda Classic
are on sale at thehondaclassic.com or by calling 1-(844)
8Honda8 – (844) 846-6328.
The Goslings Bear Trap will be back to its original layout
with no predesignated sections, along with a new private
section on the second level behind the 17th tee called the
Bear Trap Reserve. General grandstands will be returning
along with public hospitality structures such as the Tito’s
Stillhouse Lounge at the 17th hole and the Corona Premier
Clubhouse at the 15th green.

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