Following Jon Rahm’s impressive win at the Genesis Invitational, the PGA Tour heads East for the Florida swing. The first stop is the 2023 Honda Classic at PGA National. The 1st round tees off Thursday morning from Palm Beach Gardens.
Below, we look at the 2023 Honda Classic odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
It’s a somewhat weaker field than we’ve seen the last 2 weeks, with Sungjae Im being the Honda Classic favorite at +900. He ranks 10th in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin, the highest of anyone in the field. Shane Lowry, Matt Kuchar and last year’s champion Sepp Straka will also tee it up.
PGA National is a par 70 and plays at 7,125 yards. It was redesigned by Jack Nicklaus in 2018, and this past year bunkers were removed from several holes on the back 9. Straka won with a winning score of 10-under par 270 last year, 1 shot clear of Lowry and 2 ahead of Kurt Kitayama.
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Honda Classic – Expert picks
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 2:07 p.m. ET.
Jhonattan Vegas (+3000)
Vegas fired a 67 in the 1st round of the Genesis Invitational, but couldn’t break 72 in the next 3 rounds and faded down the stretch. He’s made the cut in 9 of his 10 starts at the Honda Classic, including 3 top-30 finishes in the last 4 years. He tied for 4th in 2017.
Min Woo Lee (+2000)
Lee has never played this event and rarely tees it up in PGA Tour events, spending most of his time on the DP World Tour. This will be his 1st PGA Tour event of the season but in his last 5 starts on the DP World Tour, he’s finished in the top 13, including a T-2, 3rd and T-4. He’s on a heater right now and could keep that up in Palm Beach Gardens.
Chris Kirk (+2000)
Kirk missed the cut in his most recent start at the WM Phoenix Open, but in his 2 starts prior, he finished 3rd both times. I’m betting that Phoenix was just a slip-up for Kirk, especially now that he’s playing a course where he tied for 7th last year and 25th the year prior.
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Honda Classic picks – Contenders
Lee Hodges (+4000)
In his Honda Classic Debut last year, Hodges tied for 9th. He played really well at the Genesis Invitational last week, tying for 18th after missing the cut in his previous 5 starts this season. If he can ride that momentum into an event where he finished in the top 10 a season ago, he could put together another strong week.
Harris English (+4000)
English missed this event in each of the last 2 years but in his 2 most recent starts here, he tied for 17th and 12th. He bounced back from 3 straight missed cuts by shooting 65 on Sunday at Riviera to finish tied for 12th, his 2nd top-25 of the season. You’re getting English at a pretty good price this week in a field absent the biggest stars.
Honda Classic picks – Long shots
Akshay Bhatia (+20000)
Bhatia finished in the top 10 of his first 2 Korn Ferry Tour starts this season before missing the cut in his 2 most recent events. In his 2 PGA Tour starts this season, he tied for 17th and finished 45th. Obviously, he’s a long shot but the 21-year-old is worth taking a chance on.
Adam Schenk (+10000)
Schenk has made the cut in each of his last 4 starts this season and has made the cut in 3 of his 5 starts at the Honda Classic. He has 2 top-30s and 3 top-40s when he has made the cut here, but he’s never finished better than tied for 29th.
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Golfweek:
- When will we see Tiger Woods play again?
- Dressed for Success: Jon Rahm at the 2023 Genesis Invitational
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