Betting Trends for The Honda Classic
The PGA Tour begins the Florida swing at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. If you’re wondering why the field doesn’t feature any of the top-10 golfers in the World Golf Rankings and just a few well-known talents, it’s probably not a coincidence – PGA National is one of the most challenging tracks on tour and a true test.
BetMGM provided some interesting betting trends ahead of The Honda Classic.
Check out our Honda Classic Picks and Preview
Highest Ticket Percentage
Brooks Koepka 10.8%Billy Horschel 5.7%Louis Oosthuizen 4.5%Sungjae Im 4.4%Daniel Berger 4.1%Matthew Wolff 3.8%Tommy Fleetwood 3.8%Keith Mitchell 3.7%Mito Pereira 3.3%Joaquin Niemann 2.7%
Highest Handle Percentage
Brooks Koepka 15.4%Billy Horschel 7.0%Matt Jones 5.4%Tommy Fleetwood 4.6%Keith Mitchell 4.4%Louis Oosthuizen 4.3%Mito Pereira 4.2%Sungjae Im 4.1%Daniel Berger 4.0%Matthew Wolff 3.9%
As usual, the favorites are receiving plenty of attention ahead of The Honda Classic. However, there have been plenty of examples of players winning from well down the odds list throughout the tournament’s recent history.
See Also: Honda Classic Expect Picks and PGA Tour Bet Slips
However, four particular notables were excluded from both of the previous lists.
Rickie Fowler (2.5% of tickets and 2.4% of handle)Cameron Young (2.6% and 2.3%)Shane Lowry (1.8% and 1.7%)C.T. Pan (1.4% and 1.9%)
Fowler’s (+6600) high ticket and handle percentages are more connected to his popularity than his current form. He finished 55th last week at The Genesis Invitational after missing the three previous cuts. Still, Fowler won the Honda in 2017 and finished second in 2019, so there’s some course history in his favor. It’ll probably take a red-hot putter to land him in contention Sunday.
Coming off a second-place finish at The Genesis Invitational, it’s not surprising Young (+5000) is receiving action. He won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour last year and has made four consecutive cuts.
This year, the 24-year-old Wake Forest product also finished second at the Sandersons Farm Championship, so he’s been knocking on the door. You’re probably not receiving the best betting number here, though.
While the 2019 Open Champion has been relatively quiet since his signature win, Lowry (+3000) has shown a knack for showing up on difficult tracks.
For example, he has nine career PGA finishes inside the top 10 with a score below -10. However, as noted below, BetMGM appears willing to take extra action on Lowry, considering his odds have climbed. For what it’s worth, he has made the cut in all four trips to PGA National.
Pan (+6600) is coming off a ninth-place finish at The Genesis Invitational and finished third in last year’s Honda Classic. As highlighted below, he’s a one-time winner on tour and has seen his odds plummet considerably.
Read more about the case for Pan in our Picks and Preview article.
Line Movement
Tommy Fleetwood opened +2000, now +2500Shane Lowry opened +2500, now +3000Jhonattan Vegas opened at +5000, now +4000Matt Jones opened +5000, now +4000C.T. Pan opened +8000, now +6600Christiaan Bezuidenhout opened +4000, now +5000Russell Knox opened +6600, now +5000Ryan Palmer opened +6600, now +5000Chris Kirk opened +6600, now +5000Brian Harmon opened +3300, now +4000
The odds adjustments here have an international angle, with Harmon the only American to see his number climb. BetMGM appears open to taking additional bets on Fleetwood, Lowry, and Bezuidenhout.
Check out our Honda Classic Matchup and Prop Picks
Longshot Fliers
Here are the longshots receiving the most handle:
Brandon Hagy (+20000)Aaron Rai (+8000)Hudson Swafford (+10000)Michael Thompson (+8000)Garrick Higgo (+8000)Harry Higgs (+12500)Brendan Steele (+10000)Ian Poulter (+8000)Adam Svensson (+12500)Padraig Harrington (+20000)Danny Willett (+15000)Sam Ryder (+10000)Greyson Sigg (+8000)
Make sure to keep an eye on our Live Odds page throughout the week to get the best lines possible and connect with others in the SBR community on our popular sports betting forum.
