2013 Honda Classic Betting Preview And Tips

1 0 GolfCentralDaily February 25, 2013 Edit this post

PGA National Champion Course, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Tiger Woods 10/1 Tiger Woods can be got at 10/1 in early betting following his matc...

PGA National Champion Course, Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

Tiger Woods 10/1

Tiger Woods can be got at 10/1 in early betting following his matchplay loss to Charles Howell and the fact that Rory McIlroy is in the field. Woods returns to the Champions Course having signed off with a final round of 62 last year to climb from nowhere into a tie for second. Being that this is the longest odds you may get Woods at all season, I’d have a punt on him if I were you. Might pay for a new driver!

Graeme McDowell 36/1

GMac will have taken a lot of positives away from a good week at Dove Mountain where he made lots of birdies en route to the quarter final stage. That followed a missed cut on his 2013 debut at Riviera and gave him much needed game time. Tied sixth here in 2011 and again top tenned with a T9 last year, which was all the more impressive given a 73 in his first round. A better week in store for GMac on the toughest of tracks.

Charl Schwartzel 15/1

Has Charl shot his bolt or can he continue his great form this week? One thing for sure, tiredness won’t be a factor after his early exit in Arizona. Second in South Africa was followed by a tied third at Riviera in his last two strokeplay starts and Charl has improved in his two Honda starts to date. He tied for 11^th in his tournament debut in 2011, then returned last year to tie for fifth. I think he’ll have a say in proceedings.

Freddie Jacobson 34/1

The Yak has made us all a few quid recently with his tied third at the Northern Trust Open and he has the game to grind away at The Champions Course at PGA National. With seven of the last eight winners coming from the international ranks, who’s to deny the Swede a shot at the title this week. If he keeps dipping that shoulder with the putter and holing out the way he has been, expect another good week. Freddie has been in the top 16 in three of his last four starts here, arguably the most consistent player at the venue in that time.

Justin Rose 17/1

Second at the HSBC in Abu Dhabi, Rose has the ability to plot his way around tough courses. I don’t think Jack will have been too happy with 12 under winning last year and I expect the Bear Trap to again play well over par this year. Rose tied for fifth in 2012 after going a bit cold at the weekend and has a best of third in 2010 behind runaway winner Camilo Villegas.

Best Of The Rest

Given the difficulty of the test this week, it’s hard to pinpoint long odds guys that could make us money, though no doubt some will emerge. Harris English 100/1 is a more experienced player than he was when shining in the opening rounds last year and will be happy to have had a break after six straight weeks on the road. By the end of that run he looked stale, especially following a bright top-10 at the Sony Open. Watch for him at long odds as well as John Huh at 250/1. Huh has missed his last four cuts but got his PGA Tour victory at The Mayakoba Classic around this time in 2012. Doc’s 365 day form cycle theory will be tested to the limit I fear on this one, but Huh is a fun bet at those odds.