Honda Classic Betting Preview

The Jack Nicklaus redesigned layout is known as one of the toughest courses on the PGA Tour, with the highlight being the Bear Trap, a treacherous stretch of holes from the 15th to 17th. The Honda Classic had been the first stop on the Florida Swing for a number of years, but that changed in 2021, and it’s now the last March PGA tour stop in the Sunshine State.

Last year, Sungjae Im shot a final round 66 to finish at six under par 274, a shot in front of Canadian Mackenzie Hughes. Tommy Fleetwood led going into Sunday’s round but faltered to a 71 and finished in third place. It was Im’s first PGA Tour win, following Rookie of the Year honors in 2019.

The change in the schedule has hurt the quality of the field since the prior four tournaments all awarded enhanced FedEx Cup points. They consisted of two Invitationals, a World Golf Championship event, and the Players, with its $2.7 million winner’s share, a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour, and 600 Fed Ex Cup points.

The highest-ranked player in the field is Daniel Berger, who is 15th in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). Last week’s Players Championship had 46 of the top 50 players in the OWGR represented at TPC Sawgrass. Sungjae Im at 18th and Lee Westwood at 19th are the only other players at PGA National in the top 20.

The Players Championship recap

Justin Thomas fired a four under par 68 on Sunday to overtake third-round leader Lee Westwood to win the “Fifth Major” by a shot at 14 under 274. Westwood could only manage a final round 72 but was able to birdie the 72nd hole to edge Bryson DeChambeau for his second consecutive runner-up finish. DeChambeau’s 71 left him tied for third with Brian Harman at 12 under par.

Honda Classic Betting Lines

Berger is the futures odds favorite at +1100. The 27-year-old Florida State product has a win at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier in 2021, his fourth career win on the PGA Tour. Defending champion Im, already playing in his 17th event on Tour in the 2021 season, is next at +1300. The 22-year-old South Korean’s best finish among those tournaments was tie for second at the Masters.

Joaquin Niemann is third with odds of +2000. The Chilean, also 22 years old, won the 2020 Military Tribute at the Greenbrier for his lone Tour victory. Just behind him at +2200 is Westwood, who seems to have found some answers for his game at the advanced age of 47. Rounding out the top five at +2400 is Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open Championship winner, and Adam Scott, the 2016 Honda Classic champion.