The biggest names in golf have descended on Palm Beach Gardens for the Honda Classic including one hometown favorite. Rickie Fowler has made quite a name for himself on the PGA tour and that popularity carries a lot of weight around in northern Palm Beach County.
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“This is my home now, I feel we have a lot of support,” says Fowler.
Ask him where he’s from and he’ll tell you California, except when the Honda Classic rolls into town.
“This is the one tournament that I have them announce me out of Jupiter,” Fowler says.
The 8-year resident of Jupiter, currently ranked 7th in the world, teed off Thursday to defend his title.
We caught up with The 2017 Honda Classic winner last week to talk about golf and life off the course.
"We get out paddleboarding quite a bit, we get out on the river, makes it nice and easy take the boat out to cruise and fish and when we’re home we don’t get too far from the house," he says.
It’s no surprise he’s a regular at some of his favorite hotspots in the Jupiter area. In fact he loves supporting them and their local ties.
"Hog Snappers is a great place. Guanabana’s, there’s a bunch of those good fun places that are either family, locally owned, or the groups - you know like Tiger having his place and then 1,000 North, there's a handful of us involved there.”
His schedule has him on the road quite a bit, but with the Honda Classic, it’s only a short drive down the Turnpike to a course that always finds a way to give him a good test.
"We’re definitely up for the challenge, it’s a course I love the play because of what it brings and with a little bit of wind, it shows it’s teeth that closing stretch,” says Fowler.
