PGA Tour Betting – The Honda Classic
The PGA TOUR moves to Florida this week after a thrilling Match Play tournament in the desert. The PGA National’s Champion Course hosts a very impressive field this week – the top players in the world including Tiger Woods will tee it up on Thursday in hopes of dethroning Rory Sabbatini as champion.
February 27 – March 4, 2012
PGA National Resort and Spa’s
Champion Course
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Purse: $5.6 million
Winning Share: $1,008,000
FedExCup Points: 500
Current Champion: Rory Sabbatini
The PGA National’s Champion Course is one of the toughest non-major courses on TOUR with “The Bear Trap” (holes 15-17) acting as the difference maker at this event. Accuracy is king here – PGA National has ranked inside the top 15 most difficult in greens in regulation in the last five years. The challenge is a welcome one for the field of 144 looking for the $1 million first place prize.
Here is a list of those who could contend this week at the Honda:
The Favorites:
Rory McIlroy 8/1
Rory just missed out on the #1 World Golf Ranking with his impressive second place finish at the Match Play last week. He has simply been on fire and probably deserves to be called The Best. In his last 11 starts worldwide, he has eight top-three finishes including two wins and four runners-up. It will be his first start in this tournament in three years – the last time was a third place finish in 2009. Rory is The Man on TOUR right now, no doubt about it!
Lee Westwood 9/1
Westwood has been scorching Hot the last 12 months or so and currently occupies the third spot in the World Golf Rankings. He has finished Top 20 in five consecutive tournaments, was T29 last year at the Honda and T9 the year before. Westwood looks fit and played very well last week.
Tiger Woods 10/1
Woods had a week to forget at the Match Play but maybe an early exit allowed him some time to work on his game. His putter seems to be his worst enemy right now – the all-around game is not as sharp as we would like to see at this point in the season.
The Contenders:
Charl Schwartzel 25/1
Schwartzel closed out 2011 very strong but was disappointing last week at the Accenture. In his last 10 events, Schwartzel has finished Top 20 nine times – as consistently good as there is in the world right now. He finished T14 here last year and is a much better golfer than he was at this time in 2011.
Keegan Bradley 28/1
It seems that Bradley is always in the thick of it, doesn’t it? He had a rather forgetful Match Play tournament last week after going to a playoff in the Northern Trust the week before. Bradley is very solid and a threat every time out!
Kyle Stanley 30/1
Stanley has been very good this year after a break-out 2011 campaign. He was actually in contention here last year before a brutal weekend. Since that time, Stanley has anointed himself as one of the most consistent up-and-comers in the game.
Justin Rose 33/1
Rose skipped last year’s Honda but was third the year before. He is coming off a T13 at Riviera and is certainly due for a win. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Ben Crane 33/1
Crane has started 2012 in fine fashion – three Top-10’s already and a second at the Waste Management. He was third at this event last time he played here in 2009 and could be due for a win based on his 13th ranking on TOUR in greens hit, first in Strokes Gained-Putting and second in the all-around.
Mark Wilson 40/1
Wilson certainly isn’t flashy but based on his recent play he could be the best value on the board at 40/1. He has a win on TOUR already this year at the Humana Challenge, he finished an impressive third last week at the Accenture and he has actually won on this course in 2007. He is fourth on TOUR in greens hit and 11th in the all-around. You can bet that Wilson will show up on the leader board at sometime this week!
The Sleepers:
John Rollins 55/1
Rollins wasn’t all that impressive last time out – a missed cut at Riviera but he does have three Top-10’s already this season. He is terrific at avoiding bogeys which is huge on this course – 18th on TOUR in bogey avoidance and he has shown well on this course in the past – Rollins finished second here in 2009.
Marc Leishman 80/1
Quietly, Leishman has made a name for himself on TOUR with two Top-20’s in his last two events played. He has finished T17 in his last two starts at this event and is particularly good when the weather is less than stellar – just like they are expecting this week in Florida.
Jerry Kelly 125/1
You wanna long shot? How about Jerry Kelly who finished third here last year. He hasn’t been playing all that well this season but he has finished within the Top-20 three times at the Honda in five tries. He hits fairways, hits greens and more than holds his own in the putting game.
The Pick:
How can one bet against Rory McIlroy 8/1? He has been sensational for the better part of a year and he proved last week that he is on top of his game – only a scorching Hunter Mahan slowed him down. McIlroy is the class of the field and at 8/1 isn’t great value but a prudent pick.
My sleeper this week is Mark Leishman at 80/1 – not a sexy name on TOUR but still worth a shot based on his recent play.
