About a year ago, Sepp Straka celebrated his first victory on the PGA Tour at the Honda Classic and would now like to defend this title. In the PGA National Resort, the native of Vienna starts with a round under par, but he can’t keep up with the leaders. Meanwhile, Jäger, Schmid and Schwab are struggling with their own problems. Billy Horschel and Joseph Bramlett share the lead, but after the first lap had to be stopped early due to darkness.
Horschel & Co. still too strong for Straka
It hasn’t been the same sovereignty that Sepp Straka showed at last year’s Honda Classic on the PGA Tour . In Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, the Austrian comes back from the course with a round under par in order to join the top group, but he still needs to improve his performance on the following tournament days.
Having started on lane 10, the native of Vienna suffered a bogey right at the start after his approach came to a standstill in the bunker. Subsequently, however, Straka remained clean on the first half of the course and holed the 18 for a birdie, so that he went into the turn with even par. The back nine then offered a little more variety and although Straka managed four birdies, he had to record a double bogey as well as a bogey. In the end, he hits 69 shots, staying one shot below the standard on the par 70 course. At rank T27, he is currently four strokes away from the top. Billy Horschel and Joseph Bramlett greeted from there after the first lap, which could not be fully completed due to darkness.
The two Americans each played a round of 65 at the PGA National Resort and are going into the second day of the tournament as leaders. While Bramlett recorded a bogey-free round with five birdies, Horschel had six birdies with one bogey. “I just played very solidly,” said Horschel after his round. “I didn’t do anything special, had a few good iron shots here and there. I wouldn’t say it all came automatically and it was easy. I had to work my way through to get a few good shots here and there. But everything all in all it was a really solid day of golf”. Rookie Pierceson Coody also caused a sensation, making his debut on the PGA Tour with four birdies, one clear round and a few brave shotscelebrated. He lurks just a swipe behind Horschel and Bramlett.
PGA Tour: Jäger, Schmid and Schwab with initial difficulties in Florida
Three other German-speaking golfers are in action at the Honda Classic 2023. However, Stephan Jäger , Matti Schmid and Matthias Schwab had problems in lap 1. All three only got one lap over par at the start and have to step up their game on the second day in order not to miss the leap into the weekend. Stephan Jäger still got the best round, returning from the course with 71 strokes. Although the native of Munich managed three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey wiped out his winnings. He is at T62 after 18 holes.
The second German in the field, Matti Schmid, suffered five bogeys and a double bogey on his opening lap. A shot win on lane 4 and two late birdies on lanes 17 and 18 give him hope of making it into the weekend. He ranks 117th with a score of +4. An even more difficult task awaits Matthias Schwab. The Austrian was only able to record one birdie on his round, but suffered four bogeys as well as a double bogey. The 28-year-old struggled, especially on the greens. Five over par and rank 128 are for the Austrian.
Source: Golf Post
