Fantasy Golf Predictions
Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – 2021 Honda Classic
Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the 2021 Honda Classic
The 2021 Honda Classic Fantasy Preview
When you join an elite group in which Tiger Woods is the only other member, you know something is going very, very right.
But that’s exactly where Justin Thomas finds himself after adding THE PLAYERS Championship to his sizable trophy cabinet on Sunday – he and the Big Cat are the only players to have won this title, a major, and secured ten PGA TOUR titles prior to the age of 28.
Some champions make life difficult for themselves, but not Thomas. He blitzed his way up the field on Saturday, and was in no mood to take his foot off the gas a day later as he played the first three holes after the turn in -4 to leapfrog the ailing Lee Westwood and Bryson DeChambeau at the summit of the leaderboard.
Westwood, who was right in the mix for the second week running, later admitted he was ‘tired’ and had nothing to give in the final stretch, but Thomas – the stud that he is – had no such qualms.
It was a brilliant edition of THE PLAYERS Championship, and the only downside is that there is a considerable lull feel to this week’s Honda Classic as a result.
Last Week’s Fantasy Results
Last week it was “Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner” when our top guy JT took it home at TPC Sawgrass and sailed to a cool $2.7 million in earnings, bringing our DFS players along for the ride.
Last week we told you he was a steal at his price tag; but in case you missed it, here’s what we had to say about JT going into the event:
Stop what you’re doing, because one of the best prices you will see on DK is now available.
There is absolutely no way that Justin Thomas, a player perfectly built for Pete Dye golf, should be less than $10,000. It’s an absolute steal.
A formline of 35-11-MC-3 perhaps doesn’t describe JT’s suitability for Sawgrass that well, but we can assure that you that he has all of the tools of the trade to become a multiple-time winner here.
Maybe it’s a lack of recent form that has persuaded the number-crunchers to serve up such a bargain, but it’s not as if he is stinking the place out – solo third at the Tournament of Champions was followed by three round excellence at the Phoenix Open – a Sunday 72 halting his progress.
But $9,900 for one of the most prolific winners on the PGA TOUR at a layout that suits him down to a tee? Thanks very much.
Along with JT we felt strongly about Matthew Fitzpatrick who ended up T9 after a pair of disappointing 72s over the weekend. We also had Doug Ghim as a sleeper pick who after being in 2nd place most of Sunday, fell apart on the back nine to finish T29.
In all, our Tuesday Sleeper Report saw five cuts made with Sergio leading the charge there!
Overall, a pretty awesome week for us with plenty of Premium Members cashing in on Fanduel.
The 2021 Honda Classic Field
At Sawgrass, we saw the vast majority of the world’s top 50 players in action. At the Honda Classic this week, Russell Henley is the fifth favorite with the sportsbooks.
That gives you an insight into this field, which will be headlined by the defending champion Sungjae Im and AT&T Pebble Beach winner Daniel Berger.
Westwood will attempt to summon up the energy to go hard for another week, while former Honda Classic winners Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler and Keith Mitchell will be hoping for a return to form at a happy hunting ground.
All told, this is a weak field event in any way which you wish to use the description.
This Week’s Course Preview
The Florida Swing draws to a close in fine fashion at PGA National this week.
The Palm Beach layout, originally devised by Tom Fazio and since refurbished by Jack Nicklaus, is awash – in all senses of the word – with hazards and naughtiness.
Water is a genuine consideration on at least 14 of the holes played, with dozens of bunkers and a howling wind only adding to the complexity.
And then there’s the ‘Bear Trap’ stretch of holes, in which Nicklaus was clearly in a devilish mood when plotting their landscape. The fifteenth is essentially an island green Par 3 akin to the seventeenth at Sawgrass – you saw how many balls that watery stretch gobbled up just a week ago.
The sixteenth at PGA National is a doglegging Par 4 set at almost ninety degrees, and avoiding the water off the tee is only part of the puzzle with a 220+ yard approach into an elevated green – not fun.
And the final hole of the Bear Trap is the seventeenth, a Par 3 hole featuring a green of just 30ft in width. Good luck finding that with a 20mph wind blowing left to right!
With a number of long Par 4s and only two Par 5s on the 7,158 yard stretch, it’s a good old fashioned grind, and with heavily contoured Bermuda greens featuring numerous elevation changes maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that the winning score here has only been double digits under par in two of the last five editions.
Weather Forecast for Palm Beach Gardens, FL
The forecast is the same this week as it has been for the Arnold Palmer Invitational and THE PLAYERS Championship – albeit with one considerable difference.
It’s going to be a pleasantly warm week with the mercury hitting as high as 86˚F, with sunny spells interspersed with the odd threat of rain.
But just look at those wind speeds….if the early forecast is to be believed, the breeze could hit 20 mph on Thursday and not drop that much thereafter. That could make life very interesting indeed.
Last Year’s Results for the Honda Classic
In 2019, Keith Mitchell and Vijay Singh – the most unlikely of bedfellows – battled for glory at PGA National, but last year’s renewal saw a markedly more predictable winner take the spoils.
Okay, so it was Sungjae Im’s maiden PGA TOUR title, but the Korean had looked a winner in the making for some time and finally sealed the deal.
He didn’t have things handed to him on a plate though, with a harsh wind making life very difficult indeed – Im’s winning score of -6 was the second highest in the best part of 15 years at this venue.
In the end, his 66 on Sunday was the day’s best in awful conditions, and that was enough to see him home ahead of the equally-resilient Mackenzie Hughes.
The Canadian was knocking on the door at the business end, but two birdies in his final three holes showed Im’s resolve and enabled him to finally get his hands on some top-tier silverware.
Tommy Fleetwood rounded out the podium places, with Berger, Westwood, Byeong Hun An and Brendan Steele making up the rest of the top five.
Highlights | Round 4 | Honda 2020
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Where to Play Fantasy Golf for the Honda Classic this Week
This week we’re love the $125,000 Thu PGA Eagle over at FanDuel. Only $7.77 per roster entry; and if you would have used our picks last week, your wallet would be a lot fatter today.
This Week’s Fantasy Notes for the 2021 Honda Classic
To anyone attempting to handicap the Honda Classic field and come up with a winning line-up this week we say Godspeed and good luck!
Aside from a few thoroughbreds at the top of the betting, this is a derisory field packed with players who are out of form or who, in truth, seem to have very little chance of winning a PGA TOUR event any time soon.
Mind you, since 2013 there have been four winners who started the week at sportsbook odds of 200/1 or greater, so who knows what will unfold this week!
Let’s stick to the facts in our shortlisting. This is a tough golf course that is likely to be peppered by strong winds, and so those with appropriate breeze management and a decent all-round game – greens will need to be hit, scrambles made and putts landed – are at the top of the agenda.
This being East Coast golf we’re looking at guys comfortable in these environs, and of course happy when putting on pure Bermuda greens.
Only four of the top-ten last year averaged 300 or more yards off the tee, and finding fairways was only of relative significance – Wyndham Clark finished T11 and his driving accuracy was down at 39%!
So scrambling and chipping are the orders of the day, particularly in this breeze, and if nothing else just stick with those who have been playing well lately. Form and confidence is key when tackling layouts like PGA National.
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Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the 2021 Honda Classic
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Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win The 2021 Honda Classic
Top Tier Pick #1:
Sungjae Im (Odds: 12/1, FPPG: 79.8, GPFP: 63.77 Salary: $11,o00)
There’s not a great deal of imagination in this pick, but then sometimes imagination is overrated.
Let’s keep things simple – we know that Im, as the defending champion, loves the layout, and he has been playing better golf from tee-to-green than pretty much everybody in this field of late.
He is so consistently good that he has missed just one cut from his last 16 starts, and in amongst that run he has cultivated a catalogue of top-20 finishes in high quality fields, including T2 at The Masters in November.
When all of the facets of his game come together, Im is very much worthy of his world ranking of 18, and if he gets off to a good start this week he will surely take some stopping.
Key Stats:
- SG: Off-the-Tee – 6th
- Scoring Average – 22nd
- SG: Putting – 44th
Top Tier Pick #2:
Shane Lowry (Odds: 30/1, FPPG: 57.5, GPFP: 49.99 Salary: $9,200)
Let’s assume that PGA National is going to play ultra-hard this week given the wind forecast.
We should get a few grinders on side in that case, and Shane Lowry is often the man for the job. A British Open champion, Lowry grew up on the Links in his native Ireland, and so a stiff breeze will prove to be too punitive to him.
He has been in sneakily improving form too, with his T8 at THE PLAYERS – where he gained strokes on the field in all departments – following T11 at the Houston Open and T25 at The Masters.
It’s rare that the conditions in which Lowry really thrives come along, but we can draft him here with complete confidence no matter what the elements throw at the players.
Key Stats:
- SG: Off-the-Tee – 30th
- SG: Around-the-Green – 37th
- Scoring Average – 58th
Mid-Tier Pick #1:
Dylan Frittelli (Odds: 60/1, FPPG: 58.2, GPFP: 40.60 Salary: $8,200)
Some of Dylan Frittelli’s finest moments in professional golf have come with a breeze at his back, from winning the John Deere Classic to various triumphs on the European Tour.
The lanky South African has that grinding game, and he’s comfortable scrambling when things go awry, chipping onto missed greens and basically assembling a score in conditions where classic ball-striking aren’t exactly yielding results.
His game has been spectacularly hit-and-miss of latte, but you don’t finish T5 at The Masters and T22 at THE PLAYERS Championship unless you’ve got game, and in this weak company Frittelli has every chance to shine.
Key Stats:
- SG: Around-the-Green – 9th
- Scrambling – 29th
- Bogey Avoidance – 92nd
Mid-Tier Pick #2:
Matt Jones (Odds: 80/1, FPPG: 66.6, GPFP: 86.58 Salary: $7,400)
Slow and steady might just win the race this week, and by all accounts Matt Jones can grind out a score.
His low bullets should keep him in good order off the tee, but even when mistakes are made the Australian is a noted scrambler who is simply very good at making par – there could be a premium on that this week.
A missed cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational halted his progress somewhat, but in and around that Jones has banked four top-30 finishes in his last eight starts – notably in stronger fields than this one.
Key Stats:
- Bogey Avoidance – 10th
- Scrambling – 19th
- SG: Putting – 29th
Low-Tier Pick:
Jim Furyk (Odds: 120/1, FPPG: 80.2, GPFP: 80.20 Salary: $6,900)
It’s hard to think of a set of conditions that Jim Furyk isn’t more attuned to than these, and a top-10 in his penultimate visit to PGA National confirms that the Bald Eagle is comfortable in these parts.
He’s played good golf in all of his PGA TOUR starts this term, with top-30s at Pebble Beach and in the Genesis, and lest we forget he won twice on the Champions Tour in 2020 – not exactly the coalface of golf, but shows that Furyk hasn’t lost his winning touch.
You get seemingly random winners in weak field events like this from time to time, but few would be surprised if a legend like Furyk – who has still got game – came up with the goods this week.
Key Stats:
- Bogey Avoidance – 1st
- Scrambling – 1st
- SG: Approach – 18th
Sleeper Pick for the 2021 Honda Classic
John Huh (Odds: 125/1, FPPG: 69.8 GPFP: 73.24 Salary: $6,900)
While far from a household name, John Huh continues to serve up some outstanding tee-to-green numbers and is starting to get his rewards for that.
Indeed, he ranks 27th on the PGA TOUR for SG: Tee-to-Green, which shows his ball-striking is of the highest caliber.
On the flipside, that means he can’t put for toffee, but a decent run of form – seven made cuts from eight starts, with four yielding top-25s – suggests that Huh commands respect and is an excellent sleeper prospect this week.
Key Stats:
- SG: Approach – 43rd
- SG: Around-the-Green – 52nd
- SG: Off-the-Tee – 57th
Alternative Sleeper Pick for the 2021 Honda Classic
Bo Hoag (Odds: 175/1, FPPG: 54.1, GPFP: 43.30 Salary: $6,600)
While not the kind of player that will blow minds, Bo Hoag’s neat and tidy game is perfect for PGA National and he has helped himself to six top-30 finishes so far this season.
A noted scrambler who takes pride in making par, Hoag has been in decent form and even in elite company hasn’t been flustered – T26 and T32 respectively at the Genesis and Arnold Palmer Invitational is proof of that.
A winner on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019, Hoag clearly has an excellent game and will – hopefully – be resistant to the kinds of mistakes that will befall others this week.
Key Stats:
- Scrambling – 13th
- Bogey Avoidance – 25th
- SG: Around-the-Green – 65th
This Week’s Sample Fantasy Lineup
Note: Sample lineups provided as examples only. Be sure to mix-and-match players to best fit individual contests.
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Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2020-2021)
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