A month ago, it would have been a stretch to link Joe Durant’s name with Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and many other greats of the game.
If Durant wins the Honda Classic this week for his third victory in a row, his name will fall among the best who ever played on the PGA Tour. He will become only the 24th player in tour history to win three in a row.
Byron Nelson’s 11 in a row in 1945 is the record, but the roll call of players who have won three in a row reads like a Hall of Fame list. Tiger Woods, Walter Hagen, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Billy Casper, Bobby Locke, Paul Runyan, Jimmy Demaret and Nick Price have turned the trifecta.
Durant, winner of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and Genuity Championship, is being realistic in his attempt.
“I am here to try to win a golf tournament, but to say I’m trying to win three in a row … I wasn’t trying to win two in a row,” Durant said. “I was just trying to go to Doral and play well. That’s all I’m trying to do here. All you can do is play the best you can, and hopefully go into Sunday with a chance.”
“This is the way I approach every tournament, just go out and play solid the first couple days. Be around for the weekend.”
Durant, 36, is No. 1 on tour this year in driving accuracy, total driving and greens in regulation. He’s also No. 1 in money winnings with more than $1.4 million.
He’s 54 under par in his past two victories. Those kinds of numbers aren’t realistic if, as expected, the winds blow hard over the TPC at Heron Bay this week.
Not young anymore
Phil Mickelson is only 30, but he’s feeling his age with all the youthful faces this week.
Australian rookies Aaron Baddeley, 19, and Adam Scott, 20, are proving formidable young players with overseas victories this year. Plus, there’s Orlando’s Ty Tryon, 16, who made it through the Monday qualifier.
“It wasn’t long ago I was the new kid on the block,” Mickelson said. “I feel like a veteran here with guys who aren’t even legally able to drink.
“There is a crop of really good young players coming out. Tiger’s only 24, but if you look at Aaron Baddeley, Adam Scott, Paul Casey, Dave Gossett, Charles Howell and Sergio Garcia, these guys have tremendous talent. These are the guys you are going to see in the next five to eight years overcome and start to win week in and week out.”
Coral Reef Club
The new Coral Reef Club, with a food court and bar behind the 18th green, makes it debut today. A Jumbotron television screen is in place for viewing the tournament telecast during the day. After play is complete, entertainment is planned. Singer August Campbell, a regular performer at Tobacco Road in Miami, will perform today.
