Three players FORCED OUT of PGA Tour's Honda Classic, one heads to LIV Golf
One of the big tournament favourites has been forced out of this week's Honda Classic on the PGA Tour.
Three players have been forced out of this week's Honda Classic on the PGA Tour, with one of the trio heading to LIV Golf.
Sweden's Alex Noren, who was one of our golf betting tips for this week's action at PGA National, has been forced to withdraw from the tournament.
We believe as a result of injury, but this has yet to be confirmed.
Noren's exit from the tournament is a huge blow to the tournament, especially for players looking to pick up valauable world ranking points ahead of both flagship and major championships on the PGA Tour.
Field changes at The Honda Classic since Tuesday morning:
Danny Lee WD, Geoff Ogilvy in
Austin Smotherman WD, Kevin Chappell in
Alex Noren WD, Grayson Murray in— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) February 22, 2023
Only two of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) are competing in the Florida event (Sungjae Im #18, Billy Horschel #19).
Noren's WD means there are less OWGR points available in this event as the strength of field is weakened, as world ranking guru Nosferatu outlines in his tweet below:
A further blow to the #HondaClassic field strength, with Alex Noren WD. SoF dropping towards ~31p to the winner. Shane Lowry could only reach #19 with a win now. This also means a tougher job for guys like MinWoo and Meronk who are trying to make the top 50 for #ThePlayers. #OWGR https://t.co/Ti9DS2dYDd
— Nosferatu (@VC606) February 22, 2023
Noren will be replaced by Grayson Murray.
Yes, that's the player who completely threw his toys out the pram last season.
Two other players have been forced out of the tournament, with two further replacements.
They include Austin Smotherman being replaced by Kevin Chappell, and Danny Lee, who has been snapped up by LIV Golf, being replaced by former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy.
Martin Kaymer was also forced out of this week's opening tournament of the new LIV Golf League season in Mexico.
LIV Golf made a number of new signings ahead of Mayakoba.
The biggest shock signing was Thomas Pieters, who spoke more about his move today following his controversial 'angry tweet' aimed at Tiger Woods' event last week.
Check out the new LIV Golf Teams for 2023.
Unfortunately, it's meant six players have been axed before the first tournament.
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