Howell, Taylor see bright spots at Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Charles Howell and Vaughn Taylor each left The Honda Classic with something to be pleased about.

Howell, the Augusta native, recorded a hole-in-one during Sunday’s final round. Taylor recorded his second top-20 finish in two weeks.

Taylor shot even-par 70 to finish tied for 18th place. After a tie for 16th the previous week at Mayakoba, Taylor said he’s starting to build some momentum.

“I feel like I’m playing well,” he said. “I just need to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Howell shot 73 to finish in a tie for 26th. His highlight came at the 197-yard seventh hole. With a 4-iron shot, his ball landed on the front of the green and rolled in. The hole-in-one was his second eagle of the front nine and his fifth ace in competition.

“I hit a good shot. I thought it would be close,” Howell said. “Obviously, when a ball goes in you need to hit a good shot and have a little bit of luck.”

Howell now heads to this week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship. He said he will continue fine-tuning his game leading up to the Masters Tournament.

Taylor, who will play in the Puerto Rico Open this week, will try to play his way into the other three events later this month in hopes of winning to make the Masters.

Taylor said he’s made an adjustment with his game that worked Sunday. He’s trying to eliminate the left side of the course to prevent him from hooking the ball out of bounds like he’s done earlier in the year.

“My misses were really bad,” he said. “I’m just trying to sync my arms and body up through the ball.”