Tiger Woods is taking a week off from his 2019 tournament schedule, opting to skip the Honda Classic to prepare for what will be a busy March, and it's a weaker field overall as the PGA Tour heads to PGA National in Florida for its first event of the year on the east coast. Justin Thomas, ranked third in the world, is looking to defend his 2018 title and is the favorite to repeat. He's coming off a ninth-place finish at the WGC-Mexico championship last weekend. MORE: Watch the Honda Classic live with fuboTV (7-day free trial) The 2019 field lacks in overall star power but it does include Rickie Fowler and world No. 3 Brooks Koepka. Follow scores from the 2019 Honda Classic below with our live leaderboard. Honda Classic leaderboard, live scores Click here if you don't see scores or results above.<doc-sep>Did you know you can save your preferences across all your digital devices and platforms simply by creating a profile? Would you like to get started? Yes, I'd like to register/log in Not right now No, never ask again<doc-sep>At one point Sunday on the back nine at the 2019 Honda Classic, the following golfers were tied for the lead at 7 under par with Rickie Fowler boiling just behind them. Ryan Palmer Vijay Singh Lucas Glover K.H. Lee Brooks Koepka Keith Mitchell It was a mosaic of a leaderboard, one full of stars, superstars, former stars, ball-striking youngsters and putter-wielding veterans. It was, to be completely honest, chaotic. What happens when you get a bunched-up board like this is that someone usually goes on a tear to win the event outright. That's exactly what happened, but it wasn't the guy we thought it might be. At first, it seemed as if Koepka would be the one. He finished with two birdies in his last three holes to shoot 4-under 66 on the day and get in the house at 8 under, one ahead of Palmer and Glover. But then, Fowler tied him with three birdies in his final four, including this absurd 45-footer on the par-3 17th. Those two set the mark and dared anybody behind them to make it through the normally tough ending at PGA National unscathed and with a chance. Somebody did. In his his 40th PGA Tour start, Mitchell -- whose favorite quote, according to the PGA Tour, is, "You will never be able to fly if you are scared of heights" -- stepped in and stole the show. He birdied Nos. 12, 13, 15 and 18, the last one a game-winner from 15 feet that never had a chance of doing anything but finding the bottom of the cup. He finished at 9-under 271, one clear of Fowler and Koepka for the first win of his career. "I was trying to focus on what was going on," Mitchell told NBC's Steve Sands. "My mind started wandering a little bit toward the end. You're going to have bad thoughts, that's the reality of it. I was just trying to focus on what the putt was doing and my read and my speed. I hit a great putt." He did a great putt -- especially for somebody who came in No. 218 on the PGA Tour in putting -- but before that he hit 162 terrific shots from tee to green and finished No. 1 in the field in that category. That's how you flex on Koepka (as much as one flexes on Koepka) and Fowler at the very end of a tournament in their own backyard. "These guys are awesome," Mitchell told Sands after bagging his first victory and scoring a Masters invite. "I know Rickie's young and Brooks is young, but they've been out here so much longer than me. I've been watching them since college and junior golf. They're both great ambassadors of the game. Having my name next to theirs is an honor in the first place." Mitchell played the back nine of his life on Sunday to post the fourth-best round of the day and beat out two of the best in the business late at PGA National. So the end to a wild afternoon in Florida got maybe the wildest final act we could have imagined (unless you thought Singh was going to emerge victorious). The No. 162 player in the world coming in off three missed cuts in his last four starts staring down two top-10 players and running right through them with a 15-foot 6-inch putt he'll remember forever. It was kind of the perfect ending to a bonkers Sunday at the Honda. Grade: A+ Here are the rest of our grades for the 2019 Honda Classic. Rickie Fowler (T2): Fowler did his best to shake the "dude just can't close" narrative on Sunday with a back-nine 32, which was nearly four better than the field average. He made putts of 22 feet, 16 feet, 45 feet and 7 feet over the final eight holes -- all for birdie. All more pressure packed than the last. If he'd hit it just slightly better on the front nine on Sunday, he probably would have either been in a playoff or won outright. Also, the triple bogey on Thursday didn't help. Grade: A Brooks Koepka (T2): This sounds dumb because he's won three major championships, but it was nice to see Koepka contend at a "regular season" PGA Tour event. The iron he hit into 18 made me weak. He walked after it, flipped his club up and had me convinced it was going to disappear in the hole. It didn't of course, but he easily two-putted for the birdie and 8-under number. The juxtaposition of him and Fowler showing nearly zero emotion with Mitchell showing all of the emotion made for a fascinating and fun Sunday watch. Grade: A Ryan Palmer (T4): I mention Palmer because he set the clubhouse lead at 7 under several hours before the leaders and eventual winner came through. His 7-under 63 was nearly eight strokes better than the field average and three better than the second-best round of the day on Sunday. While it's true that he wasn't playing with the pressure that those behind him were, a 63 on Sunday at PGA National (with a 29 on the front) is laugh-out-loud good. Palmer, who ranks No. 143 on the PGA Tour in driving somehow led this field in that category. Golf, man. It's the best. Grade: A Justin Thomas (T30): It wasn't the greatest week for last year's champion Thomas, who took himself out of contention with a 74 on Friday and was fighting against dead arm after hitting a tree early in the week. Still, there were fireworks this week just as there were this time last year, and they once again came with something that happened outside the ropes rather than between them. The USGA's PR account on Twitter went after Thomas after he criticized their rules. The parties apparently connected, but the response was an eye-opener. Grade: B- (raised to a B+ for the Twitter drama)<doc-sep>Did you know you can save your preferences across all your digital devices and platforms simply by creating a profile? Would you like to get started? Yes, I'd like to register/log in Not right now No, never ask again<doc-sep>
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) -- Sungjae Im was in the first group to tee off on the first hole Friday at The Honda Classic. He'll be in the final group Saturday. Im, the 20-year-old South Korean rookie who around this time last year was winning the first Web.com Tour start of his career, shot a 6-under 64 in the second round at PGA National. He shared the 36-hole lead at 6-under 134 with Keith Mitchell (66). It could be considered a surprise final pairing: Combined, Im and Mitchell have zero PGA Tour wins. "It's just nice to kind of feel like you're in contention and playing well," Mitchell said. "You're out there actually trying to make birdies instead of trying to salvage and trying to make a cut ... trying to make a birdie and force it. Today we were just out there trying to hit good shots." Mitchell had five birdies and bogey Friday; Im had seven birdies and a bogey to match the low round of the week so far. First-round leader Jhonattan Vegas shot a 64 on Thursday, and Adam Svensson had one Friday. Im got through the second round on only 25 putts. He was the leading money-winner on the Web.com Tour last year, was atop the money list for the entire season and played his way into two majors. "I was hitting the ball really well today, so all my putts were under 10 feet," said Im, who had a 6:45 a.m. tee time. He'll be able to sleep in much later Saturday, with his tee time scheduled for 1:45 p.m. Even though the Honda is played in an area of South Florida where a number of PGA Tour players live -- including Tiger Woods -- the field includes only three of the top 20 players in the most recent world rankings. Im grew up watching Woods, staying up until the middle of the night in many cases to see him play on television. "Just watching him makes me nervous," Im said. He's got a 36-hole lead to be nervous about now. Lucas Glover (69) was third at 5 under. Svensson and Brooks Koepka were among those in a group at 4 under, and 42 players were within five shots of the lead. "Can't be too upset with 1 under around here, to be honest," said Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open champion who has three straight rounds in the 60s at PGA National going back to his final-round 66 last year. "Wind picked up a little towards the end. I didn't hit it great, but got myself into the thing." Justin Thomas also is still in the thing, though the defending champion has a lot of work to do if he's going to go back-to-back. Thomas, playing with a sore right wrist after a wayward swing against a tree Thursday, had an eagle, a double-bogey and a triple-bogey on his way to an eventful 74. He got in right on the 36-hole cut line, 2 over. "Hopefully, I'll at least have a chance where I can make something up this weekend," Thomas said. Vegas reached 7 under briefly, then finished in a group tied for 13th at 3 under after shooting a 73. Gary Woodland extended his streak of consecutive made cuts to 21 with an eventful birdie on the par-5 18th. He went over the green with his second shot, ran his third well past the hole and coolly rolled in a 15-footer for birdie to get to 2 over. Woodland hasn't missed a cut since at The Players Championship last May.