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The Honda Classic: Bear Traps, Bermuda and breezes – who can conquer the first Florida Swing event?

The tournament returns to PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens for a 16th consecutive year.

There is no easy introduction to the Florida Swing this year.
The field that kicks off this stretch of the season is well aware that it is about to be tested right to its limit.
The Champion Course at PGA National is a par-70 that plays to 7,125 yards with no less than 15 of the holes featuring water.
Throw in narrow fairways and blustery conditions and you have a tough tee-to-green test. In fact, it traditionally (and statistically) plays the toughest to par of any tournament other than the Majors.
And the holes 15 through 17 are brutes, also known as The Bear Trap.
Welcome to the Sunshine State.
Who can pass the examination this week? Let's take a look at three angles and the contenders they throw up.

Im a believer

Is Sungjae Im's fondness for hard work the secret of his success at PGA National or is it just that he really likes playing golf in Florida?

The first time he visited this course, in 2019, he finished T51st, but flagged that he might be a good fit by thrashing a second round 64 to tie the halfway lead.
A year later he carded two 66s on his way to victory and he was tied eight on defence 12 months ago.
Nor is good golf in Florida limited to one course. He's got two top fours at Bay Hill, another at Innisbrook and, in all, he has nine top 30s finishes from just 11 starts in the state (in eight of those he headed into the weekend in the top 10 and right in the hunt for the win).
A winner again at the start of this season he has added another five top 20s in his next seven appearances. He's bang in form and right back in his sweet spot.

Can another former champion win again?

Keith Mitchell is a former winner of this tournament - he claimed his success in 2019 - and he is probably in the best form of his life right now.

Three years ago he'd flagged up his potential for the win with second place at the blustery Dominican Republic, third in breezy Texas and when contending the windy Sony Open a few weeks before reaching Palm Beach.
He quickly added a pair of high class top 10s at Bay Hill and Quail Hollow, but when he missed five cuts in a row last summer he had only added another two to his career top 10 tally.
Despite that, he counts Rory McIlroy among his admirers, the Northern Irishman believing he has a swing that has the capacity to see him challenging in the Majors.
Moreover, since he broke that nasty run with fifth in the 3M Open last July, Mitchell has added tied eighth at The Northern Trust, tied third at The CJ Cup and arrives fresh from four top 12 finishes in his last five starts.
He knows how distinct this test is, saying after victory in 2019: "You cannot be aggressive or go at flags. I almost hit it in the same spot on every green on purpose for four days no matter where the flag was.
"So many times we never even looked at the yardage of the pin. It was almost irrelevant to look where the pin was unless we were inside 120 yards because you don't aim there because your miss is so tiny.
"That was the thing I did best this week - manage my game."
If he can marry strategy and form he has a great shot.

The right grass

28-year-old Denny McCarthy is still looking for his first win on the PGA Tour but when it comes you sense it might be on Bermuda (or grainy) grass greens.

The Maryland performer has now landed 24 PGA Tour top 20s since graduating from the second tier in 2017 and no less than 20 of them have been on grainy greens.

Moreover, the six top 20s he has landed in this season alone? Five of them on, yep, grainy greens.

He finished third in this tournament last year and his words that week back up the notion that it's a test that suits.
"It's a place that I've always thought suits my game, on the Bermuda grass down here," he said. "I like playing in the wind. I think it forces you to be more creative, which is kind of more my style of play. And, you know, I felt really relaxed the last few days, knowing that my game was in good shape."
In point of fact, 12 months ago he'd made no top 20 in his previous 10 starts.
He's quite clearly in much better shape right now.

READ MORE: The PGA Tour's West Coast Swing Report: The winners, the losers, and those in-between

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