BY JAMES BEATTY
MARCH 2, 2020 — During the Honda Classic last week, I was a guest of the Business Development Board (BDB) of Palm Beach County. They are the official public/private economic development organization for Palm Beach County and Enterprise Florida. Founded in 1982, as a not-for-profit corporation, its primary purpose of the BDB is to attract and retain new industry, business investment, high-quality jobs, and workforce development through corporate relocations, expansions, and international trade. During the past five years, the BDB has assisted companies that have created more than 12,822 direct jobs with average salaries greater than $69,062, resulting in more than $777 million in capital investment to Palm Beach County and an economic impact that exceeds $6.87 billion.
So, I attended the Honda as a guest and as a media person. Founded 48 years ago in 1972 as Jackie Gleason’s Inverrary Classic, the Honda Classic is an astonishing tournament. The 2020 event, held March 15-21, broke the 200,000 attendee barrier for the fifth year in a row!
As a guest, I totally enjoyed my time at the 18th Hole Skysuites courtesy of Florida Power and Light Company. Food and beverages were in great supply and demand. I had the pleasure of meeting several of the dignitaries associated with the tournament which was well run, as I have come to expect from all professional tournaments.
As a media person/fan, I was most interested in Harold Varner III and Joseph Bramlett, so Thursday —Cut Day was bittersweet. Harold Varner III made it and Joseph Bramlett didn’t. My enthusiasm waned a bit, as now, I only have 1 person to pull for —Varner, but I am concerned for both as each needs to improve in order to move up the season leaderboard. Ultimately, Varner finishes at T-42 costing himself a few dollars by shooting a 6 over 76 in the third round. He completed the tournament by firing an even-par 70 on Sunday.
Congratulations to the winner Im Sung-jae on his first PGA Tour victory. The full leaderboard may be viewed here: https://thehondaclassic.com/scores/.
Here is a comparison of Harold and Joseph, as I also compared both of them to the current FedEx cup leader, Justin Thomas.
Well, there is still time for both players to get into their respective grooves and put up the numbers that they are capable of doing. I will continue to pull for them and I hope you will too.
