There are two perspectives on swing on tour. Not the human ones, but the organization of events in a geographic region. One perspective says, finish your swing with your pre-eminent tournament. That happens on the West Coast swing, where Riviera hosts the Genesis and caps the four weeks of Arizona-California golf. In Hawaii, the season kinda-sorta has to open with the Tournament of Champions, so that one is handcuffed. The most interesting swing is the Florida one, where the big-ticket item, The Players, is the penultimate event, and the Valspar doesn’t even make the swing. This matters, because as we look at the event that is The Honda Classic, we can’t help but empathize with its plight.

The Honda comes the week after the fifth major, so many top-ranked golfers see it as a good week to break from the stress of competition. It comes the week before a WGC event, the Dell Match Play, where golfers hope to impress their respective Ryder and Presidents Cup captains with their head-to-head ability (and make a few bucks, let’s be honest.)

Finally, the Honda takes place on a PGA National golf course that was made punitive for no good reason. It’s not the place you want to find (or preserve) your swing, if you hope to peek heading into The Masters. The Champions course is better suited to precede a US Open or PGA Championship, with its emphasis on accuracy and wind management. With WGC and Majors dotting the canvas, events like the Honda will always fill the spaces between.

PGA Tour: Matt Jones claims second career win at The Honda

The first (and last time until Sunday) Matt Jones won on the PGA Tour; he had to work overtime in figurative and literal fashions. In 2014, Jones drained a 46-feet birdie putt at the 72nd hole to tie Matt Kuchar, then chipped in from over 100 feet on the playoff hole to win. This week, Jones did the heavy lifting on Thursday, then held steady the next three days. On day one, the Australian had runs of four and three birdies, on his way to nine birdies and an opening 61. Despite elevating nine shots on day two, Jones would fare no worse than that 70 and follow it with 69 and 68 for a five-shot win over Brandon Hagy. The runner-up played the same sort of spectacular as Jones, with rounds of 69-62-66 on his card. His third-round lapse, to 76, was his undoing. The 66 in round four forced Hagy 16 spots up the leaderboard to a career-best, second-place finish.

On a course with more water than grass at times, Jones made no worse than bogey. On the day that he seemed poised to drive the train off the rails, Jones made eagle at the last to return to even par. The victory qualified Jones into the Masters for the second time in his career.

European Tour: Harding in for second tour win at MKO

There is no great creativity in the naming of golf tournaments on professional tours. It’s either a major, or it has a sponsor’s tag attached to the title. This makes events like the Magical Kenya Open a rarity. Sure, the government or its chambers of commerce sponsor the tournament, but still, Magical Kenya! For lovers of language and golf, the disruption of the parade of corporate dances is a respite. Justin Harding certainly found the Karen Country Club to be magical this week for different reasons.

The South African golfer etched his name into a winner’s plaque in 2019 in Qatar. There, he won by two shots over nine golfers. That’s a feat in itself and made his two-shot win over just the USA’s Kurt Kitayama seem quite mundane. Harding was solid all day Sunday, with three birdies and his second deuce of the week at the par-four ninth hole doing the damage. Kitayama posted two eagles on day four, along with the same number of birdies. His attempt to unseat Harding was interrupted by an unfortunate six at the par-five eleventh hole. Even though Harding failed to make birdie there, he still picked up a stroke on his nearest chaser.

Like Brendon Hagy over at The Honda, Scotland’s Connor Syme played the best Kenya golf over three rounds. He had 65-67-64 but was undone by a 71 on day three. The Tour remains in Kenya this week, in fact, at the same course. It does remain to be seen, among other storylines, whether Harding can go back to back on a course that favors his game.

Korn Ferry Tour: Diaz wins first event at Louisiana

Just when it seemed that Roberto Bobby Diaz was ready to claim his first big USA event, he made bogey at the 13th hole. Just when it seemed that Peter Uihlein was ready to claim his first big USA event, he made bogey at the 17th hole. Just when it seemed that Tom Whitney was ready to claim his first big USA event, he ran out of holes. So, who won? If you read the headline, you already know.

Whitney played the most impressive golf on Sunday. He opened with eagle, added six birdies, and reached 16-under par for solo third place. Uihlein, the 2010 US Amateur champion, had two eagles on Sunday (at the first and the twelfth holes) and looked to be capable of winning a first big event since the 2017 Nationwide, on the Web.Com (now Korn Ferry) tour. Alas, Uihlein made bogey at the 17th and settled for second spot, at 17-under par.

It was Diaz who emerged victorious and, until Sunday, was known as a player who had won by not winning. In 2017, Diaz lost a PGA Tour Latinoamerica playoff but moved so far up the world ranking that he qualified for the WGC-Mexico Championship as the leading Mexican golfer. This week, Diaz was able to steady his nerves after the 13th-hole bogey and run the table with pars. That was good enough to hold off Uihlein and secure much-needed status, stature, and confidence heading into the meat of the Korn Ferry season.