2022 Honda Classic: Betting Preview, Odds, and Best Bets

The 2022 West Coast swing on the PGA Tour has finished and now things flip to the opposite coast for the ‘Florida Swing’. It all begins this week with the 2022 Honda Classic at the challenging PGA National.

The next several weeks will see the tour make stops at PGA National for the Honda Classic, Bay Hill Club and Lodge for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and TPC Sawgrass for the 2022 PLAYERS Championship.

Last week Joaquin Niemann took apart Riviera Country Club in absolutely dominant fashion, leading from the beginning, setting 36 hole records, and more or less making the rest of the field chase him down on Sunday.

The even-par, 71, Sunday finish was good enough to claim his second PGA Tour win. The Chilean epitomized what it takes to be a winner at an event like the Genesis Invitational when he placed his tee-shot perfectly in the fairway on the 18th, before sending his second into the heart of the green.

Now Niemann and others will turn their focus towards this week’s Honda Classic at PGA National, a course that will present a completely different type of test for those in the field here in comparison to the challenge that Riviera imposed a week ago. Water comes into play on 15 of the 18 holes at PGA National (Champion) course, and the field will likely have to deal with wind elements throughout the week as well.

Many players have elected to pass on the 2022 Honda Classic this week with big events on the horizon.

In complete contrast to last week at the Genesis Invitational, the field for this week’s Honda Classic is severely lacking in star power. Just three of the top twenty in the OWGR are in attendance for the first event of the Florida swing.  It is the second weakest strength of field (234) of 2022 so far, just behind the ATT Pebble Beach Pro-Am (181).

Louis Oosthuizen (13), Brooks Koepka (15), and Joaquin Niemann (20) make up the list of top twenty players heading down to the Honda Classic this week. The 144 man field that is attending this week is sure to be tested by PGA National with the Par 70, 7,125 yard, Fazio design (Nicklaus Re-Design) playing host to one of the most difficult three-hole stretches on tour.

The legendary ‘bear-trap’ is an infamous three-hole stretch on holes 15,16, and17 at PGA National, it annually torments the PGA professionals and it is known for the vast amounts of surrounding water that wreak havoc and swallow up golf balls on a yearly basis.

Past Winners Of The Honda Classic

2021: Matt Jones (-12)

2020: Sungjae Im (-6)

2019: Keith Mitchell (-9)

2018: Justin Thomas (-8)

2017: Rickie Fowler (-12)

2016: Adam Scott (-9)

2020 Honda Classic Champion Sungjae Im is the betting favorite to repeat the feat this week at PGA National

Sungjae Im’s history at this event and propensity to excel in Florida-based events means that he is the favorite in the betting markets this week to hold the trophy once again come Sunday. The 2020 winner is listed above names like Louis Oosthuizen, Brooks Koepka, Joaquin Niemann, and Daniel Berger this week.

The Korean has played five times in 2022 and has recorded two top 10 finishes already, he finished 8th at the Honda Classic in 2021 to follow up his win here in 2020. Sungjae finished further down the board last week at Riviera (33rd) but he finished strong with a closing 67, four under par round, on Sunday.

Top of the board at the 2022 Honda Classic

(Odds courtesy of WynnBet, current at the time of publication)

Sungjae Im (+1200)

Brooks Koepka (+1500)

Daniel Berger (+1750)

Tommy Fleetwood (+2000)

Billy Horschel (+2000)

Joaquin Niemann (+2000)

Louis Oosthuizen (+2000)

Keith Mitchell (+2250)

Shane Lowry (+2500)

Mito Pereira (+2500)

C.T. Pan (+3000)

Brian Harman (+4000)

Alex Noren (+4000)

Sam Ryder (+4000)

Robert Streb (+4000)

Vincent Whaley (+4000)

Matthew Wolff (+4000)

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+5000)

Bronson Burgoon (+5000)

Mackenzie Hughes (+5000)

Matt Jones (+5000)

Denny Mccarthy (+5000)

Taylor Moore (+5000)

Ryan Palmer (+5000)

Chris Stroud (+5000)

Jhonattan Vegas (+5000)

Aaron Wise (+5000)

Cameron Young (+5000)

Honda Classic Favorite Bets

Tommy Fleetwood (+2000)

Fleetwood is making his first appearance on the PGA Tour this week in 2022 and he is just one of several international stars that will be kicking off their PGA year at the Honda Classic. Many of these players have been busy playing on the DP World Tour to begin the year, and that is the case with Fleetwood.

The Englishman has made three starts in 2022 so far, twice on the DP World Tour, and once on the Asian Tour in his most recent start. He has compiled finishes of 48th, 12th, and 8th in those three starts, so he has gradually been displaying signs that his game may be trending in the right direction heading into this week.

Tommy has a terrific history at PGA National having started here twice in both 2020, and 2018. In those starts, he finished 3rd and 4th, and he quite remarkably didn’t lose strokes in any category in both appearances, so there is clearly something about this course that suits his eye. The strength of the field in both those years was stronger than the field set to take part this week, so even though he has not won since 2019, this week clearly presents him with an excellent opportunity to get into the winners’ circle once again.

Alex Noren (+4000)

Noren has put together a nice run of form to begin 2022 as he has now made the cut in three consecutive starts and really played better than his finishes might suggest. He peaked with a 6th place finish at the WM Phoenix Open just a few weeks ago and he has now gained strokes with his irons in four consecutive starts.

Alex had a steady start last week at the Genesis Invitational that culminated with a closing 69, two under par round, on Sunday. He gained over two strokes from tee to green last week and now he returns to a course that he has had some success at in the past.

Noren finished 3rd at the Honda Classic in 2018 and he has typically played pretty well on difficult courses throughout his career. He won the French Open at Le Golf National back in 2018 on a course that has some real similarities with PGA National. He also has won and consistently played well at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth throughout his career on another challenging design.

The game seems to be in pretty good shape for Noren at the moment and he has posted some encouraging results in recent starts, combine this with a track record of success at difficult courses throughout his career, PGA National included, and it means that it would not be a surprise if he contented for the win this week.

Jhonattan Vegas (+5000)

Vegas has had some success on Jack Nicklaus designs throughout his career, he has played well at the Honda Classic with five straight-made cuts at this event, including a 4th place finish here back in 2017. He is also a two-time winner of the RBC Canadian Open when that was held at Glen Abby Golf Club, another Nicklaus design.

He comes into this week having quietly put together a strong start to 2022 where outside of the American Express he has made the cut in each of his three other starts. This includes an 8th place finish at the Saudi International two starts ago.

Vegas finished 55th at the Genesis Invitational last week but that perhaps doesn’t paint a complete picture of how well he actually played. He gained almost four strokes on approach for the week and was really let down by the putter having lost an incredible four strokes with the flat-stick at Riviera.

He gained over four strokes tee to green last week and over the last two events he has gained significant strokes with his approach play. Vegas has had mixed results with the putter at PGA National, but after striking the ball so well in recent starts he is worth taking a shot with this week.