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PGA Tour returns to stroke play at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens

by Thomas Jensen on Saturday, March 3rd, 2007

After dipping into the match play arena last week, the PGA tour returns to stroke play this weekend for the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The top 5 players in the Fed Ex Cup are missing out on this week's action so plenty of players will have a chance to jump up the ranks this weekend.

Charley Hoffman, the winner of the Sony Open in January, will be the highest ranked player in the field. He's followed by No. 9 ranked Jeff Quinney who has posted four straight top-10s. The next big name will be tournament favorite Jim Furyk who has posted top-5 finishes in each of his last three outings.

Last year's tournament champion Luke Donald returns to the 2007 showdown on a roll himself. He has earned two top-10 finishes this year including a second place finish at the Mercedes-Benz Championship and a 7th place showing at the Sony Open. Donald has been one of the most accurate players this season, hitting 71% of greens in regulation and is currently ranked 13th in the Fed Ex Cup standings.

Last year's runner-up Geoff Ogilvy will be missing out on the Honda Classic this year probably due to a grueling stretch in the Match Play tournament where he made it all the way to the Finals only to finish second.

We do however have the third through fifth place finishers from a year ago returning to the line-up. These players are in order David Toms, Billy Mayfair, and Tom Pernice Jr. Three of the last five winners besides Donald also make the field including Padraig Harrington, Todd Hamilton, and Matt Kutcher. This makes for an exciting tournament that will be full of great play from some of the best golfers in the world.

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Our 2007 Honda Classic predictions will revolve around the oddsmakers favorite Jim Furyk with 8 to 1 (Bet $100 to win $800) odds to win this event. Furyk is one of the gutsiest performers on tour and with his unorthodox swing he always finds a way to get the job done. He is hitting 75.69% of greens in regulation on the tour this year and this accuracy will go a long way in helping Furyk hold the trophy come Sunday.

The Champions of the past two Honda Classic's are close behind with Harrington at 16 to 1 (Bet $100 to win $1,600) and Donald at 18 to 1 (Bet $100 to win $1,800). Luke Donald has been stepping on the scene as a weekly contender to win each tournament he enters. He already has a second place finish this season and will be hungry to get a win under his belt in 2007.

Henrik Stenson gets the second best odds from the linesmakers at 14/1 after coming off last week's win. This guy has proven he can tee it up with the best in the world and his confidence has to be soaring right now. We feel we are getting the odds we need on Stenson and our money will be going with this proven winner. You don't bet against Tiger Woods when he is on a run and we're not placing our money against Stenson this week. He has the hot stick and will be looking to prove that his match play win was no fluke. Put your smart money on Stenson at 14/1 this week.

Jimmy Boyd of Locksmith Sports is the most consistent handicapper across all sports that the industry has to offer. A consistent winner and profit maker in the NFL, NBA, college football, NCAA basketball, baseball and golf for the last eight years who provides in depth analysis with all of his selections so clients know the effort he has gone to in coming up with his selections.