The action on the PGA Tour never seems to stop, and there are no breaks in the schedule this week as the Florida swing continues with the Honda Classic at PGA National. There are just three weeks left before The Masters and it seems many players are using this as a rest week amid this juggernaut of a schedule. Plus, three golfers have already withdrawn because of positive COVID-19 tests after the Players Championship. Still, there's plenty to fixate on this week at one of the toughest annual tests on Tour.
Let's take a closer look at this week's contest with odds and prop bets provided via William Hill Sportsbook.
Event information
What: Honda Classic
When: March 18-21
Where: PGA National -- Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Three things to know
1. Fowler's last stand: Unless he gets in via the Texas Open the week before the Masters, this is Fowler's last chance to make it into the first major championship of 2021. That's a sobering reality for somebody who has been a mainstay at majors for the last decade (he hasn't missed a major since the 2010 U.S. Open) but is now ranked No. 81 in the world. He's won here before near his adopted hometown, but his best finish in the last six months is a T20 at the Genesis Invitational. There is much work do be done for the 21st-highest ranked player in this field, and though it could always click on any given week, I'm not sure this is the one it does.
2. Westwood rolls on: Westy, who has finished runner-up in back to back weeks and is now ranked No. 19 in the Official World Golf Rankings, is playing a Sungjae Im-like slate. He's made nearly $3 million on the course in the last 10 days and will be coming into PGA National off of a scouting trip to Augusta National with his son early in the week. Life is good on Westy Island, but it will be a lot better if he can notch his third PGA Tour win this week.
3. The Masters? This is adjacent to Fowler, but this represents one of the last great opportunities for a Talor Gooch or Cameron Tringale or Harry Higgs to make it to Augusta National in three weeks. A win here is big for keeping your card and for making some cash, but the grand prize might be that invitation from the folks in charge of sending them out for the 85th Masters.
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Grading the field
There are just four top-25 players in the world in the field this week, although there is a nice variety at the top of the field. Of the seven highest-ranked players playing PGA National this week, all seven are from different countries and all seven have a wide variety of styles. Sungjae Im, Lee Westwood, Adam Scott, Joaquin Niemann, Shane Lowry and Mackenzie Hughes are your seven, and while not one of them will draw a massive audience on their own, it's some good diversity of personality, country and swing at the top. Grade: C+
Honda Classic picks
| Winner (35-1): His success runs deeper than just last week's contention at The Players. Of the golfers in this field, only Niemann and Daniel Berger have been better from tee to green than Kirk in 2021. He's finished in the top 20 in three of his last five, and was in the mix on the weekend at TPC Sawgrass until he was undone by a Sunday 79. |
| Top 10 (+138): Im has been quietly strong over the last few weeks and is the defending champ here. He has not missed a cut since the RSM Classic at the end of 2020, and with Berger withdrawing with a rib injury, Im is both the highest-ranked player in the field as well as the favorite. After finishing in the top 30 in four straight events with much stronger fields, I think he jumps up into that top 10 this week. |
| Sleeper (40-1): He finished T5 last week at The Players and has made the cut two straight years here at PGA National in tougher fields than this one. He has the sixth-best strokes-gained number of anyone in this field since 2021 began. |
