The Honda Classic: Expert Picks

Tournament Information:

The Honda Classic

Date: February 22^nd – 25^th

Course: PGA National Golf Club Champion Course

Purse - $6.6MM ($1.2MM to winner)

FedEx points – 500 to winner

2017 Winner: Rickie Fowler (-12)

Course: PGA National Golf Club Champion Course. Opened in 1981 by George and Tom Fazio, this presents a big jump in the season as we jump from the West Coast to the East and Florida Greens are now introduced. Best known for holes 15-17 “The Bear Trap”, this course presents not only a difficult layout to maneuver but also a sharp jump across the country into a completely new dynamic of wind, land and grass conditions. It is known to be the hardest par 70 among the non-majors. Coming so early in the season it’s interesting to see who rises to the challenge.

My Starting 4:

Billy Horschel. Solid outings the last two years here – 8^th in 2016 and 4^th last year. He’s struggling as of late, he missed cuts in the last two tournaments but there is a similar pattern the last two years where he struggled in the tournament leading into the Honda Classic and still showed up strong. He is currently 81^st in the official world golf ranking, he’s 62^nd in strokes gained off the tee and 52^nd in strokes gained approaching the green.

Sergio Garcia. He’s finished in the top 35 each of the last 3 years here, 31^st in 2015, 2^nd in 2016 and 14^th in 2017. He’s 21^st in the FedEx Cup ranking, 11^th in the official world golf ranking. This will be his inaugural PGA event of 2018.

Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports

Sean O’Hair. Three consecutive finishes in the top 25 at the Honda Classic – 25^th in 2015, 14^th in 2016 and 11^thlast year. He’s struggled this year outside of his one win – two missed cuts and every finish above 50 but at Champion Course where he’s familiar, he will rebound.

Rickie Fowler. Back to back top 10 finishes here, outside of his one missed cut this season he’s finished in the top 12 in every event, 7^th in official world golf ranking and 9^th in total strokes gained this season.

My Bench 2:

Tyrell Hatton – Finished 4^th here last year, currently 15^thin official world golf ranking. This is a bit of a toss up as to how he will fare but he has a good chance at a top 20 finish.

Alex Noren. He has now finished in the top 25 in 4 consecutive tournaments. He is 9^th in strokes gained approaching the green, 21^st in strokes gained tee to green and 11^th in total strokes gained. He has not played here so there is no history to work from.

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

2017 Stats

Starting 4: Avg place 41^st (31^st percentile)

Bench 2: Avg place 37^th (28^th percentile)