Berger shoots another 65 at Honda Classic
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Daniel Berger no longer needs to answer questions about how his back is feeling. The scorecard is telling the story.
Berger – playing what amounts to a home tournament for him, with his residence a 15-minute drive away in Jupiter – had a three-shot lead through two rounds of the Honda Classic, after a second consecutive round of 5-under 65 on Friday.
“You get your mom’s cooking, you get to sleep in your own bed,” Berger said. “It’s pretty comfortable.”
First-round leader Kurt Kitayama eagled the par-5 18th as darkness was closing in, finishing a round of 69 and ending the day tied for second at 7 under with Chris Kirk (68). Mark Hubbard (64) was another shot back at 6 under, as was Adam Svensson – who hit all 18 greens on his way to a 65 and finished with a par at 6:41 p.m., 22 minutes after sundown.
“This course is crazy,” Hubbard said. “There’s so much trouble. Anything can happen on any given hole, so you really cannot get ahead of yourself.”
Berger’s 10-under 130 tied the thirdlowest score through 36 holes since the Honda moved to PGA National in 2007; Aaron Wise was 12 under through two rounds last year, Rory Mcilroy was 11 under at the midway point in 2014 and Brendon De Jonge was 10 under that same year.
None of them went on to win. Mcilroy lost in a playoff to Russell Henley, Wise shot 75-73 on the weekend to tie for 13th and De Jonge went 76-78 on the weekend to freefall all the way to a tie for 63rd.
But Honda just seems to suit Berger; he’s had a pair of top-five finishes here in six previous starts, including losing to Padraig Harrington in a Monday playoff in 2015.
“Every tournament I play in I want to win,” Berger said. “But it would be especially nice to win here having so many friends and family here with me this week.”
Berger had a five-birdie, zero-bogey opening round Thursday and was nearly as flawless Friday, with six birdies and a bogey. The only stroke he gave back was on the par-3 15th, his sixth hole of the day, when his tee ball landed in a bunker and he wound up missing a 15-foot par putt.
It’s Berger’s first 36-hole lead in a PGA Tour event since the Travelers Championship in August 2016. He is a four-time winner on tour, most recently at Pebble Beach in 2021.
But the back issues that flared up in recent weeks kept him from playing Pebble this year and defending that title. He played the Phoenix Open two weeks ago, testing his back and declaring afterward that he would be good to play at PGA National – a place where he played a ton of junior golf – and get a home week at the Honda.
So far, so good.
“It took actually longer than I thought it was to feel better,” Berger said. “Six, seven years ago I felt like I could have broken my ankle and 10 days later I would have been fine. But I’m getting older now and even at 28 I don’t feel the way I used to feel, shockingly, but that’s thousands and thousands of golf swings later, so it’s just part of the job.”
Chase Seiffert (66) was in a group tied for sixth at 5 under.
PGA Tour Champions
TUCSON, Ariz. – Miguel Angel Jimenez had a hole-in-one during a 6-under 66 in breezy conditions Friday to match Jeff Sluman for the first-round lead at the Cologuard Classic.
Jimenez won the PGA Tour Champions’ season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii and kickstarted his round at Tucson National by acing the 193-yard par-3 seventh hole. The 58-year-old Spaniard overcame a bogey on the par-5 eighth with three birdies on the back nine to match Sluman.
The 64-year-old Sluman opened with a birdie on the par-4 first hole and added three more to turn in 4-under 32. He had consecutive birdies at Nos. 13-14 for his best PGA Tour Champions round since a 66 in the 2018 Regions Tradition.
Sluman, who didn’t have a bogey in the opening round, hasn’t won on the senior circuit since 2014 .
Tom Lehman tied the lead at 6 under with a birdie on the par-5 17th, but failed to get up and down at No. 18 for a bogey to shoot 67.