Jones Wins Honda Classic on PGA Tour… Seongjae Lim tied for 8th

Matt Jones (41, Australia) won the US Professional Golf (PGA) Tour Honda Classic ($7 million in total prize money).

Jones hit 2 under par 68 with 5 birdies and 3 bogies in the 4th round on the last day of the tournament held at the PGA National Golf Club (par 70, 7,125 yards) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA on the 22nd (Korean time).

With a final total of 12-under par 268, Jones beat 2nd place Brandon Haegi (US) by 5 strokes, and achieved 2 wins in total in 7 years after the Shell Houston Open in April 2014.

The winning prize is $1.26 million (about 1.42 billion won).

Jones, who was the lead by three strokes until the third round, allowed Aaron Wise (USA) to pursue with one stroke to the ninth hole that day.

However, Wise won the championship relatively easily thanks to the fact that he putt four times at a distance of about 8m on the 10th hole (par 4) and wrote a triple bogie.

Wise lost three shots in this hole, widening the gap with Jones to four, and Jones continued to maintain the lead within five shots and secured the championship in seven years.

Lim Seong-jae (23), who won his only PGA tour last year, finished with a final total of 5 under par with 275 strokes and a tie for 8th place.

Although he failed to defend the title, he achieved a’top 10′ record in about two months after a tie for fifth place in the Century Champions tournament in January of this year.

Since the Century Champions tournament, Lim Seong-jae competed in seven tournaments before this tournament, with a tie for 12th place on the American Express in January.

Im Seong-jae took a birdie in the 1st and 3rd holes on this day and lost one stroke in the 2nd and 4th holes and walked back in the beginning.

Im Seong-jae, who couldn’t reduce the number of strokes to the 15th hole (par 3) with one over par, hit an even par with a birdie putt a little over 2m in the second hole of’Bear Trap’, the 16th hole (par 4).

‘Bear trap’ is a new word for holes 15-17, which are said to be the most difficult on this course. The course was remodeled in the early 2000s by Jack Nicklaus, nicknamed’Golden Bear’.

In this competition, founded in 1972, Im Seong-jae, who challenged the second straight victory 43 years after Nicklaus in 1978, was caught in the’Bear Trap’ set by this’Golden Bear’ and failed to achieve the second straight victory.

Lim Seong-jae endured this’bear trap’ with an even par with the total of rounds 1, 2, and 4, but the double ball was regrettable in the 17th hole (par 3) in the 3rd round the day before.

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