‘Honda Week’... Im Sung-jae and Yang Hee-young in the ‘Promised Land’

Honda Classic and Honda Thailand Held as Mixed-Gender Tournaments

It is ‘Honda Week.’

In the United States and Thailand, tournaments sponsored by the Japanese automobile company Honda are taking place. The PGA Tour will hold the Honda Classic (total prize money $8.4 million) over four days starting on the 23rd (local time) at the PGA National Champion Course (par 70, 7,125 yards) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. At the same time, the LPGA Tour will host the Honda LPGA Thailand (total prize money $1.7 million) at the Siam Country Club Pattaya Old Course (par 72, 6,576 yards) in Chonburi, Thailand.

Im Sung-jae

◆ ‘Farewell, Honda Classic’ = Honda has been the title sponsor of this tournament since 1982. It has been associated with the PGA Tour for over 40 years. Honda has decided to end its sponsorship of the tournament after this year. The name Honda Classic will now disappear from the PGA Tour.

Im Sung-jae is a strong favorite to win the last Honda Classic. It is the ‘promised land’ where he achieved his first PGA Tour victory in March 2020. Im Sung-jae showed consistent performance during the 2018/2019 PGA Tour season and won Rookie of the Year, and at the 2019/2020 Honda Classic, he collected his first trophy in his 50th PGA Tour event. He finished tied for 8th in 2021 and missed the cut last year.

Im Sung-jae was ranked number one in the ‘Power Rankings’ selected by the PGA Tour website. The PGA Tour website highlighted his 2020 victory and other performances, describing him as “flawless and perfectly balanced.” Im Sung-jae has been on a sharp rise recently, finishing tied for 4th at the Farmers Insurance Open last month and tied for 6th at the WM Phoenix Open on the 12th.

This tournament is excluded from the ‘elite events’ introduced by the PGA Tour, so top-ranked players including those in the world top 10 take a break. Competitors include Shane Lowry (Ireland), Denny McCarthy, Matt Kuchar, Chris Kirk, and Billy Horschel (all USA). Korean players Kim Sung-hyun, An Byeong-hun, Kang Sung-hoon, and Noh Seung-yul are also participating.

Yang Hee-young

◆ ‘Winning Turf’ = Yang Hee-young has had great success at the Honda LPGA Thailand. She has won the tournament every two years in 2015, 2017, and 2019. Out of her four career wins, three were at the Honda LPGA Thailand. She finished 10th in 2010, 7th in 2011, tied for 3rd in 2016 and 2021, and tied for 4th last year.

Yang Hee-young is at the forefront of ending the ‘Korean players’ winless streak.’ Since Jeon In-ji won the major KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June last year, Korean players have gone 17 consecutive tournaments without a victory. Along with ‘Honda’s Queen’ Yang Hee-young, world number 5 Ko Jin-young, Jeon In-ji, Kim Hyo-joo, Kim Se-young, Choi Hye-jin, Lee Jeong-eun 6, Ji Eun-hee, Ahn Ah-rin, and Kim A-rim are also competing.

World number one Lydia Ko (New Zealand) is aiming for back-to-back wins. She recently won the Ladies European Tour (LET) Aramco Saudi Ladies International (total prize money $5 million) which ended on the 19th. Lydia Ko won three times last year, sweeping individual titles including Player of the Year, money leader, and lowest scoring average. She has shown strong form starting from the Saudi tournament, her first event this year.

Last month’s ‘champion of champions’ Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions winner Brooke Henderson (Canada), world number two Nelly Korda (USA), and world number three Minjee Lee (Australia) are also challenging for the title. LPGA Rookie of the Year Atthaya Thitikul and 12-time LPGA Tour winner Ariya Jutanugarn (both Thailand) are hoping for a victory on their home course.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.