The Honda Classic


The Honda Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in south Florida. It was founded in 1972 as Jackie Gleason's Inverrary Classic, and is usually the first of the Florida events in late winter following the "West Coast Swing."
National Airlines was the sponsor in 1973 with Gleason and American Motors Corporation backed it in 1981. Since 1982, American Honda Motor Company has been the title sponsor.

Tournament history

Its predecessor, the National Airlines Open Invitational, ran for just three seasons ; all at the Country Club of Miami in Hialeah in late March. The Gleason tournament replaced it on the schedule a month earlier in 1972 at the Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill, it was among the richest events on tour with an inaugural purse of $260,000 and a $52,000 winner's share. The regular event was not played in 1976, as Inverrary hosted the Tournament Players Championship in late February, won by Jack Nicklaus. Gleason's nine-year affiliation ended after 1980, but the event continued at Inverrary through 1983. It moved to the TPC Eagle Trace in Coral Springs in 1984 for eight editions.
From 1992 to 1995, the event was held at the Weston Hills Golf & Country Club in Weston. It then returned to Coral Springs, first at the TPC at Eagle Trace in 1996 and then at the TPC at Heron Bay from 1997 to 2002. In 2003, the event moved to Palm Beach Gardens, first at the Country Club at Mirasol through 2006, then began its current run at PGA National Golf Club's Champion Course in 2007.
Since 2007, the tournament's main beneficiary is the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation, chaired by Barbara Nicklaus, wife of golf legend Jack Nicklaus.
IMG bought the tournament's management company in 2013.

Player participation

Some celebrated players have won this tournament, including Nicklaus in 1977 and 1978, the only consecutive winner in its history. However, the tournament had acquired a reputation for struggling to attract the top players as it moved from course to course in South Florida. Since 2007, The Honda Classic has seen a vastly improved player field, largely due to the decision to make PGA National the tournament's permanent home.
The prize money is comparable to other regular PGA Tour events. The total purse was in 2017, with a top prize of $1.152 million. The original winner's share of $52,000 in 1972 made it one of the richest stops on tour, greater than for any of the four majors; it was more than double that of the Masters, which had a first prize of $25,000

Tournament hosts

*Weather-shortened to 54 holes
Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Source:

Multiple winners

Four men have won the tournament more than once.
;2 wins
^ Nicklaus also won the 1976 Tournament Players Championship at Inverrary, which displaced the event.

Tournament highlights