Honda Classic - Florida
The PGA Tour moves east this week as the 38th Honda Classic hits the Sunshine State. The Champion Course @ PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida will host 144 professionals, including the defending champion Y.E. Yang.
PGA National will hold this event for the fourth successive season. The par 70 layout (7100 yards), recently redesigned by Jack Nicklaus, has over 100 bunkers and water in play on 16 of the 18 holes. The most famous part of the course is the “Bear Trap”, holes 15, 16 and 17. The two par 3s and a par 4 throw up a lot of excitement in the final stages of the tournament.
The Champion course has tight, undulating bermuda fairways surrounded by water and sand. You don’t need me to tell you that accuracy will be a major factor this week. The bermuda greens are large and have lots of contours.
The weather outlook is near perfect.
Players to note:
Former champion Padraig Harrington takes part this week. Note that his victory in this event came on a different course.
Europe’s elite are turning up. Expect to see Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia & Paul Casey stake their claim.
Robert Allenby thrives in this event, in the past three years he has finished T-5, T-4 & T-5.
Prior to Yang’s win here last year, he finished +11 in 2008.
Past winner, Ernie Els (2008) (-6) will likely feature this time round too. He has been impressive in his recent outings this year and now returns to the area that he resides in.
Selection:
Robert Allenby (16/1) is the clear cut choice giving his ball-striking capability and last three finishes in this event, however, I am siding with Padraig Harrington (20/1). His ability to handle tough, undulating courses combined with his putting skills and strong mentality will see him in contention come the ‘Bear Trap’ on Sunday evening. Briny Baird is a player worthy of a small bet. He has excellent accuracy, above average greens-in-regulation statistics and is coming off a T4th recently in the Mayakoba Classic. He is a consistent performer and is nicely priced at 110/1. Finally, Chad Campbell has an excellent record in Florida and he plays tough courses extremely well. He may well represent a decent bit of value at 60/1.
