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Golf Allenby, Casey, Westwood and McIlroy Vie for Favoritism in the Honda Classic

Bookmark and Share by D.S. Williamson

For a purse of only $5,600,000 the Honda Classic has sure attracted a stellar field.

Both of the 2 top finishers in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai in 2009, Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy, are in the Honda Classic field. Robert Allenby, who has been as good as one could expect so far in 2010, is also in the field. Then there are the well known Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, Paddy Harrington and last year’s USPGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang.

Westwood, Allenby, Casey and McIlroy are listed at +1500 in the sportsbook. Yang, Sergio, Ernie Els and Paddy could be considered underdogs to win the Honda Classic.

With so much talent in this year’s Honda Classic, it’s going to be difficult for sports gamblers to find the best man to bet in the golf sportsbook. Hopefully, the info below will help.

Golf: Honda Classic

Where: PGA National Championship Course, Palm Beach, Florida

When: 1st Round March 4th, 2010

Best Bet at +1500 - - Robert Allenby

Allenby has 3 top 5 finishes in the Honda Classic since the tournament switched to the PGA National Course. That in itself makes him the likely winner this week. What also helps is the fact that out of the 5 tournaments in which he’s started in 2010, Allenby has finished in the Top 10 in 3 of them. He finished 2nd in the Sony Open in Hawaii, 9th in the Farmers Insurance Open and tied for 8th just last week in the Phoenix Waste Management Open. He’s the best “favorite” bet on the board to win the Honda Classic.

Best Bet at +5000 or Below: Charles Howell +4000

His real name is Charles Howell III. No matter what you call him, the man has played well in 2010 and should be going off at lower odds than 40 to 1 to win this. Howell III is ranked 10th in scoring average, finished tied for 5th in the Sony Open, finished tied for 9th in the Farmers Insurance Open and finished tied for 4th in the Waste Management Phoenix Open just last week. That’s 3 Top 10 finishes in 6 tournaments so far in 2010.

Best Long Shot: Scott Piercy +7000
Out of 6 tournaments that Scott Piercey has played in during 2010, he has missed the cut 3 times, withdrew once, and finished tied for 20th in another.

It wasn’t until last week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open that the real Scott Piercy showed up to play. That Scott Piercy finished tied for 8th. Now, he goes into the Honda Classic as a 70 to 1 shot. Piercy has a chance to win this week. Not only is he coming off of his best effort of the year, but he finished tied for 5th with a 4 under in last year’s Honda Classic. Piercy shot a final round 65 to move into 5th place in 2009. If he can shoot under 70 in the other three rounds this week, he’ll have a shot to win.

Others to Consider

Lee Westwood +1500 - - 2009’s #1 ranked golfer on the European Tour, Westwood has the ball striking ability to take charge of the PGA National Golf Course.

Y.E. Yang +3000 - - Yang won the Honda Classic in 2009 and finished 3rd in last week’s Phoenix Open.

Rickie Fowler +3500 – The 21 year old has been up and down so far in 2010, but was terrific last week in the Phoenix Open when he finished 2nd. If he’s got his approach shot working, then he’s going to be tough again this week.

Brandt Snedeker +4500 - - Snedeker led the Phoenix Open going into the final round. That’s when he imploded and shot a 78 to finish tied for 43rd in the tournament. Still, those first 3 Rounds were beautiful last week.