The Honda Classic: Golf Picks, Profiles, Betting Odds

Following last week’s Genesis Invitational and our longshot and match-up winner on Joaquin Niemann, we head South for the Florida Swing and The Honda Classic. Posted tournament match-ups are now 6-0 in 2022, and we’ll chip in another below along with our Fairway favorites and longshots to win.

You can view my initial Honda Classic preview on PlayUSA, where I chip in tournament updates and sports betting news and information you can bet for various regional and state sites. I also chip in FanDuel Sportsbook coverage for The Duel Sports with comparable odds for The Honda Classic.

This week’s power rankings lack the biggest names, but 2020 champion Sungjae Im tops the odds board along with Daniel Berger and last week’s winner Joaquin Niemann.

Honda Classic Odds

The Honda Classic

S Im 12/1
D Berger 16/1
J Niemann 20/1
B Koepka 20/1
L Oosthuizen 20/1
B Horschel 20/1
T Fleetwood 25/1
S Lowry 30/1
A Noren 30/1
K Mitchell 30/1
B Harman 35/1
M Pereira 35/1
A Wise 40/1
M Wolff 40/1
M Jones 50/1
C Young 50/1

72 Hole Winning Score: 270.5

— Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) February 21, 2022

Cameron Trgingale has withdrawn, and I’ll post additional updates and picks on Wednesday, along with sportsbook betting data on golfers.

Golfers who finished top-10 in the 2020 or 2021 Honda Classic

And participating in this year’s event are:

• Matt Jones (1)
• Brandon Hagy (2)
• Chase Seiffert (T3)
• Brendan Steele (T3)
• Denny McCarthy (T3)
• C.T. Pan (T3)
• Zach Johnson (T8)
• Sam Ryder (T8)
• Sungjae Im (1)
• Mackenzie Hughes (2)
• Tommy Fleetwood (3)
• Daniel Berger (T4)
• Lee Westwood (T4)
• Brendan Steele (T4)
• Gary Woodland (T8)

Course and tournament information

• Course: PGA National Champions Course
• Location: Palm Beach Gardens, FL
• Date: Feb. 24-27, 2022
• Par: 70 / Yardage 7,125
• Purse: $8 Million / Winner $1.42 Million
• Fairways/Rough: Bermudagrass
• Greens: Bermudagrass
• TV/Online: Golf Channel, NBC (Sat/Sun), PGA Tour Live

You can follow tournament news, highlights and updates on the Honda Classic Twitter account.

Key Stats

Approach play and Ball Striking are strokes gained stats to include with more weight, and noted accuracy off the tee and ability to avoid water and hazards will keep you active. Par 4 scoring and more review ahead as the players take aim at the Par 70 course.

Data Golf’s comp courses include: Grand Reserve CC, TPC Louisiana, TPC Summerlin, TPC San Antonio, Ridgewood CC and Waialae CC, where Daniel Berger has finished well. Many of those courses require similar balanced weight of OTT, APP, ARG, and Putting to contend with varying degrees of scoring difficulty and PGA National usually having more wind in play.

Golf Betting Data

BetMGM Sportsbook Insights: The Honda Classic

 Line Movement

• Tommy Fleetwood opened +2000, now +2500
• Shane Lowry opened +2500, now +3000
• Jhonattan Vegas opened at +5000, now +4000
• Matt Jones opened +5000, now +4000

Highest Ticket%

• Brooks Koepka 10.8%
• Billy Horschel 5.7%
• Louis Oosthuizen 4.5%

Highest Handle%

• Brooks Koepka 15.4%
• Billy Horschel 7.0%
• Matt Jones 5.4%

The Honda Classic Picks

Fairway’s Favorites: Sungjae Im, Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood, Alex Noren
Fairway’s Longshots: Aaron Wise, Mackenzie Hughes, Chris Kirk, Matthew NeSmith

Tournament Match-ups: Tommy Fleetwood (-110) over Shane Lowry (BetMGM)

Following the Honda Classic, the top players will play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando. A $12 million purse will bring the top players in the world to the event, and follow that with the $20 million THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponta Vedra Beach. .