Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2021 Honda Classic

The 2021 Honda Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

Quality golf courses bring the best out of quality golfers, and so nobody should be surprised that Justin Thomas was the victor at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday.

His iron and wedge game is, perhaps, unequalled, and given Pete Dye’s love of small greens it was always likely that JT would find an edge at THE PLAYERS Championship.

And he did in fine style, recording a smattering of birdies over the weekend and taking full advantage as Lee Westwood and Bryson DeChambeau, Arnold Palmer Invitation rivalry renewed, fluffed their lines with the winning line in sight.

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Thomas continues to break all sorts of records for players of his young age, and at 27 he is already a legend in the sport….just what will he go on to achieve?

He’ll be watching on from home this week as his good buddy Daniel Berger mounts a challenge on the Honda Classic, a nice event that has been hampered by unfortunate scheduling.

Consequently, there’s a weak field heading to Palm Beach and maybe the best in the business had seen the weather forecast and thought ‘nah, I don’t fancy the Bear Trap in those conditions.’

For the uninitiated, the Bear Trap is the signature trio of holes at this week’s host venue, PGA National. Originally designed by Tom Fazio, it was a reworking from Jack Nicklaus – hence the name – that really established PGA National on the TOUR, and today it is arguably one of the toughest tracks on the schedule.

Water is in play on 15 – yes, 15 – holes, and there’s a good chance that many in the field will be going for a swim this week given the forecast.

Yep, the wind could reach 20mph and stronger, and for a layout with so many hazards lurking it could become a considerable grind this week – Sungjae Im won this event with -6 last year, for reference.

Im and Berger lead the way in a field desperately short on quality, but maybe that helps our aspirations of picking out a long odds winner – since 2013, four champions here have been priced at 200/1 and beyond!

So we can have some confidence in scouring the market beyond the major players, and with that in mind here’s our sleeper report for the 2021 Honda Classic.

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The 2021 Honda Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

Matt Wallace – 60/1 – The Englishman is one of those masochists that seems to play better the harsher the conditions get.

Flick through his timeline and if its wet or windy Wallace will be there – his solo second at the Scottish Championship and T2 at the Golf in Dubai Championship is testament to that.

Wallace hasn’t served up his best form on American soil, but that’s okay because it keeps his odds inflated – the strength of this field is like a solid European Tour event, and on his domestic circuit he has won four times in the past three years.

A pitch and putt merchant, Wallace is at his best in the wind – better than most in this field, actually.

Russell Knox – 66/1 – Can you remember back to the AT&T Pebble Beach?

Knox was right in the thick of things for the trophy, and it was curious penalty for a spurious rule breach that prevented him from contending.

The Scot has fallen away since but he is a golfer who only really thrives in certain conditions, and shorter courses in the wind are his true modus operandi.

Knox finished in the top-three in back to back years here in 2014-15, which shows his suitability for the test, and has some excellent golf in his recent memory bank to build upon this week.

Kyoung Hoon-Lee – 80/1 – While he remains something of a hit-and-miss player, Kyoung Hoon-Lee has a high-performance ceiling – he was T2 at the Phoenix Open just four starts ago.

It’s his short game that sets the Korean apart, and assuming that plenty of greens will be missed this week he will enjoy something of an edge on many in the field.

He certainly did here in 2019 with a T7 finish, and there is just something about this young man that hints at future glories to come.

Harold Varner III – 80/1 – There will be plenty of people reading this column that have wagered on Harold Varner III in the past with minimal reward, so why dive in again now?

Well, he is excellent approaching the green and around them, and this week that is where the advantage lies.

He’s in reasonable form too – T13 at the phoenix Open, T21 at the Arnold Palmer – and so there’s no reason why he can’t build on a solid if unspectacular record at PGA National.

Keith Mitchell – 100/1 – A winner here in 2019, Keith Mitchell took his usual ballistic approach and it worked for him.

While the jury is out on whether bomb-and-gouge is the way to go at PGA National, there’s a bit more subtlety to Mitchell’s game and he is excellent from 100 yards and in.

T14 at the Sony Open when taking a similar hail Mary approach, Mitchell’s formline is deceptive because he simply cannot putt on Bentgrass or Poa Annua greens – back on Bermuda, he can be a force to be reckoned with.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the 2021 Honda Classic here.

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2020-2021)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”1.00%” bar_text=”2 out of 110 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent= “1.09%” bar_text=”12 out of 110 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”28.18%” bar_text=”31 out of 110 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=0%” bar_text=”0 out of 21 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”9.09%” bar_text=”2 out of 22 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”71.80%” bar_text=”79 out of 110 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

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Cover photo via Instagram