Find Love At The Honda Classic

The Honda Classic kicks off today in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida at the PGA National Resort Champion Course. As you might expect, at 4 to 1 odds, the field is the favorite with Jim Furyk right behind at 6 to 1 odds. Luke Donald captured last season’s Honda Classic title, but I don’t see a repeat this season as the Champion Course at PGA National figures to be an ugly step sister compared to Mirasol’s Sunrise Course where the event was held last season. The odds makers are showing Donald some respect at 16 to 1 odds, but that’s about all it is as his chances are slim and none in my opinion.

With Tiger out of the picture, former winners of this event will be hungry for the first place prize money of $990,000. Joining Donald as past winners are Todd Hamilton, Justin Leonard, Matt Kuchar, Jesper Parnevik, Dudley Hart, Mark Calcavecchia, Tim Herron, Corey Pavin, Joey Sindelar, and Padraig Harrington. Mark Calcavecchia is even a two time winner of this event but none of the former champs are peeking much interest from me here. I think we should be looking at the top 25 golfers in the world in this event as they are the ones playing the best golf right now and will have the best chances of pulling it together after a sub par round which this course is sure to cause. The seven top 25 golfers in this event are Padraig Harrington, Nich O’Hern, Davis Love III, David Toms, Chris DiMarco, Luke Donald, and, of course, Jim Furyk.

The face lift that Jack Nicklaus gave to this course is sure to cause some wrinkles for the field this week. If we were going off history, we might be looking at former two-time winner Mark Calcavecchia, but this is really a new event with the change in courses. With the golf that Furyk is playing we to think that he will finish near the top. With Tiger not in the event, he is the odds on favorite, but I think this actually hurts him here. When Tiger is playing, it takes some of the pressure off the other golfers because he is the one with the target on his back. Now that Furyk is wearing the target, I’m not convinced that he can carry the load. With the first round underway, of the favorites, Harrington and Furyk are off to fast starts sitting at two under and one under respectively. But the guy you should keep a close eye on is Davis Love III. We’re talking about a guy with one of the best gold swings in the game and he already has two top five finishes in 2007. I think his consistent swing and great iron play puts him at the top of the leader board at the end of the day. Davis Love III is showing great value at 23 to 1 odds for this event and if he is your man, you should be feeling very good about his chances.

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Jimmy Boyd is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League. Read all of his articles at www.procappers.com/Jimmy_Boyd.htm

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