The Honda Classic is held at the PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and this year will welcome the participation of many of the World’s best golfers. The course, redesigned by Jack Nicklaus in 2001, is a 7,158 yard par-70 and the tournament has a total purse of $5.6 million, with $1,008,000 going to the winner.
Robert Allenby and Rory McIlroy have been made joint-favourites for the event at 16/1 (bet £10 to win £160 profit). Allenby, from Australia, is currently ranked fourteenth in the world but is without a win on the PGA Tour since 2001. However, in December last year he overcame Henrik Stenson to win the Nedbank Golf Challenge only one week before taking the Australian PGA Championship and if he can continue his form into 2010 he will be a threat to anybody.
Twenty year-old Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland has shot to fame recently with a number of high-profile performances and although he only won one event last year, the Dubai Desert Classic, he finished in the top three six times. McIlroy came in the top ten in fourteen of his twenty-four starts and is ranked ninth in the World, with his most memorable showing a tie in third place in last year’s PGA Championship.
English duo Lee Westwood and Paul Casey are next at 18/1 and 20/1 respectively. Westwood is the highest-ranked player in the tournament, at fourth in the world, and had an excellent finish to 2009, with wins at the Portugal Masters and the Dubai World Championship ensuring that he won the ‘Race to Dubai’ with earnings of £4,237,762. Casey also had two wins on the European Tour last year but also added the PGA Tour’s Houston Open to climb to his current sixth in the world rankings.
Ernie Els is one of several former winners taking part in the event. Els, who won in 2008, is 25/1 and, despite recording only two wins since 2006, is currently 17th in the world rankings. Padraig Harrington, winner of this event in 2005, is 28/1 with Stan James and with three Majors under his belt it would be hard to write off the world number ten.
Other notable entries include last year’s winner, Yong-Eun Yang, at 33/1, and the ever-dangerous Sergio Garcia , who already has fifteen professional wins at the age of just thirty. Garcia is also at 33/1 to add to this total.
The first round of matches tee off at 12.00 pm UK time on Thursday.
Honda Classic match betting odds
Honda Classic winner betting odds
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