The PGA Tour reacted to the LIV Golf Tour by upping prize purses for a number of events this season and the unintended consequences of that decision has been that most of the top players are choosing to only play the “enhanced” events. Unfortunately for tournaments like The Honda Classic, which does not have an enhanced prize pool, the field is much weaker. This week’s event in Florida has just two of the world’s top 20 players in the field, unlike last week when all of the world’s best players were in action. Sungjae Im is listed as the favorite in golf betting odds at BetRivers to win this event. I am coming off a frustrating 2-3 week with the matchups at The Genesis Invitational. Let’s look at Honda Classic matchup picks.

Defending Champion: Sepp Straka

Tournament Notes: Unlike some recent tournaments, we are not going to see low scores this week. Last year, PGA National averaged 71.341 in scoring. The Bear Trap, holes 15 through 17 are among the toughest holes on the PGA Tour schedule.

The Honda Classic Matchups

Sungjae Im -175 vs. Shane Lowry

Aaron Wise -120 vs. Jhonattan Vegas

Alexander Noren -137 vs. Min Woo Lee

Denny McCarthy -120 vs. J.T. Poston

Matt Kuchar -120 vs. Chris Kirk

Taylor Pendrith -125 vs. Thomas Detry

Stephan Jaeger -120 vs. Joseph Bramlett

Hayden Buckley -120 vs. Will Gordon

Aaron Rai -120 vs. Lee Hodges

Hun An Byeong -114 vs. Ben Griffin

Adam Svensson -114 vs. Robby Shelton

Christiaan Bezuidenhout -129 vs. Danny Willett

Dylan Frittelli -125 vs. MJ Daffue

Cameron Davis -137 vs. Sepp Straka

Harris English -137 vs. Webb Simpson

Alex Noren -142 vs. Matt Kuchar

Min Woo Lee -112 vs. Denny McCarthy

Aaron Wise -126 vs. Chris Kirk

Billy Horschel -142 vs. Adam Svensson

J.T. Poston -118 vs. Taylor Pendrith

Byeong Hun An -120 vs. Hayden Buckley

Cameron Davis -120 vs. Ben Griffin

Min Woo Lee -120 vs. Thomas Detry

Will Gordon -115 vs. Nick Hardy

Stephan Jaeger -115 vs. Adrian Meronk

Denny McCarthy -120 vs. Billy Horschel

Taylor Pendrith -130 vs. Christiaan Bezuidenhout

S.H. Kim -120 vs. Ryan Palmer

Sepp Straka -120 vs. Adam Schenk

Jhonattan Vegas -130 vs. Harris English

Aaron Wise -120 vs. Alex Noren

Golf Picks

Taylor Pendrith -125 vs. Thomas Detry

Did you know that Pendrith was one of only seven players in last year’s Honda Classic to shoot under par in three of the four rounds? The problem he had was a third round 74 but he still finished in a tie for 25^th. I think he improves on that finish this time around, so I will take him in this matchup against Detry.

Harris English -137 vs. Webb Simpson

English played well last week with a tie for 12^th at the Genesis. He has played well at PGA National with two Top 20 finishes in his last two appearances in 2019 and 2020. What has happened to Webb? His game has simply fallen off the map and until he gets things turned around, he is a go-against. I will take English in this matchup.

Chris Kirk -104 vs. Aaron Wise

Kirk is off to a good start this season with a pair of 3^rd place finishes. He has played well at PGA National in this career, including a tie for 7^th last year. He finished in a tie for 25^th two years ago. I will take Kirk in this matchup.

Sepp Straka -120 vs. Adam Schenk

The defending champion is Straka and he was so good last year, as he led the field in fairways hit, co-led in GIR and he was fourth in Shots Gained: Putting. I know he has to deal with being the defending champion this week, but I still think he will play well. I’ll take him in this matchup against Schenk.

Byeong Hun An -114 vs. Ben Griffin

Did you know that Hun An has three top 20 finishes this season and has made 9 of 12 cuts? He has played well at PGA National in the past with a tie for 5^th in 2018 and he tied for 4^th in 2020. I’ll take Hun An in this matchup.

Check out the latest Honda Classic matchups at BetRivers.