Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño will take on the Honda Classic this week. Some time before, now in the past, was his elimination in the WGC Accenture Match Play against Hunter Mahan. But it's time to move forward, and much more so now that the PGA Tour has landed indefinitely on this Madrid native's territory.
The American tour has left the West Coast behind to begin what's known in the US as the Florida Swing, a sequence of four tournaments in just one month, in the southernmost point of the East Coast. Otherwise known as Fernandez-Castaño's new place of residence in Miami.
The Spanish golfer will attempt to leave his mark at the Honda Classic that starts this Thursday with the legendary PGA national tour at Palm Beach Gardens, compelled by the inertia with which he finished the Northern Trust Open, the last stroke play tournament of the American tour. Gonzalo was much more comfortable on the greens there, putting some of the first lessons of his new putting trainer, Dave Stockton, into practice.
It will be Gonzalo's first appearance at the Honda Classic, a tournament that has been in existence since 1972, and whose defending champion is Michael Thompson.
The signature mark of the PGA National is the 'Bear Trap', its name in honor of Jack Nicklaus. They're the treacherous three, holes 15, 16 and 17, one of the most demanding, intimidating triangles of the entire season. Finishing with a par at the end of the four-day tournament is usually a really good sign.
