The 2022 Honda Classic: PGA Tour Betting Odds
Sungjae Im is favoured on the golf odds.
We say this every year, but the start of the Florida Swing means the Masters is just around the corner! Most big-name players competed over the weekend at Riviera in Los Angeles at the Genesis Invitational so most are skipping the Honda Classic because they will play the Arnold Palmer Invitational outside Orlando next week and then the Players Championship near Jacksonville the following week.
The host track for the Honda Classic is the difficult Champions Course at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens. The three-hole stretch of Nos. 15-17 is called the “Bear Trap” for its difficulty and the fact Jack Nicklaus redesigned the course twice. Water is in play on 16 holes overall and it’s a par 70 at around 7,125 yards.
The defending champion is Aussie Matt Jones, who opened with a course-record-tying 61 and closed with a 68 on Sunday to finish at 12-under 268 and win by five. That margin matched the largest in tournament history, tying the mark set by Nicklaus in 1977 and matched by Camilo Villegas in 2010. Jones was the Honda Classic’s 11th international winner since 2005.
It was Jones’ first Tour win since the Houston Open in the 2013-14 season, and he hasn’t won or come close since. Jones is +2900 this week.
The 2022 Honda Classic Golf Odds
Korea’s Sungjae Im is the +1400 favourite. He comes off a T33 finish at the Genesis Invitational on Sunday in Los Angeles. He won here in 2020 at 6-under 274 and was T8 last year.
Daniel Berger and Joaquin Niemann are both +1600. Niemann went wire-to-wire to beat a loaded field at the Genesis Invitational for his second PGA Tour win. No player had gone wire-to-wire at that event since 1969. Niemann has a best result of T25 in this tournament. Berger didn’t play last week. He was a runner-up here in 2015 to Padraig Harrington.
Brooks Koepka, Louis Oosthuizen and Tommy Fleetwood are each +2000. Koepka missed the cut in LA and was a co-runner-up here in 2019. Oosthuizen is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 13 but hasn’t contended in this event. Fleetwood has played here twice and been third and fourth.
Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard, a 22-year-old two-time winner on the DP World Tour, including a couple of weeks ago, is among the sponsor exemptions and making his PGA Tour debut. He’s +4100.
No Canadian has won here, but Mackenzie Hughes finished runner-up by a shot to Im in 2020 and Dan Halldorson was a co-runner-up in 1991 to Steve Pate. Hughes hasn’t played great here otherwise.
Last year, Adam Hadwin was the top Canadian finisher at T8, with Roger Sloan T25 and Hughes T36. Nick Taylor, David Hearn and Michael Gligic missed the cut. Hughes is +5000 this week with Taylor Pendrith +6500, Nick Taylor +12000, Adam Svensson +15000, Roger Sloan +15000 and Gligic +50000.
The Honda Classic Golf Predictions
Fleetwood (+2000) has won a handful of times internationally but not on the PGA Tour. That drought ends Sunday.