Honda Classic – Palm Beach Gardens, FL  (Odds by Sky Bet)

The Favorites:

Ernie Els (12-1):  The easy favorite among oddsmakers despite up-and-down form.  Hasn’t played this event since 1999, and has logged only four top-10 finishes in 19 Florida starts in the new millennium – though one was a 2002 victory at Doral.  Perhaps as likely a winner as anyone, but 12-1 seems like short odds given his recent fumblings.
 
Luke Donald (20-1): Won this event in 2006 but that was at the CC of Mirasol.  Finished T46 on this layout last year.  Has logged three top 10s in six Florida starts since 2005 so he seems at home on Bermuda greens.  Recent T3 at Riviera suggests decent form.  Not a bad bet.
 
Justin Leonard (22-1): Past champion in this event (2003) at Mirasol and has also won a Players Championship (1998).  On the consistently best form of anyone in the field dating back to October and is due for a win.  Might be the pick.
 
Wild Cards:

Justin Rose (22-1): Has logged one top 10 in 13 career Florida starts and has been in fairly quiet form since winning the E Tour’s Volvo Masters last November – but he’s not ranked 7th in the world without reason.

Sergio Garcia (25-1): Hasn’t won in America since 2005, and putting remains a question, but he must feel comfortable on Bermuda greens as he’s logged seven Florida top 10s since 2001.  [Aside: Five of these were at Bay Hill so stay tuned in two weeks].

Boo Weekley (25-1): Native Floridian who lost the Honda in a playoff last year.  Has already logged three top 10s in six 2008 starts, and he's right at home on Bermuda.  With no match play rules here to confuse him, a nice bet.

Longshots:

Jason Day (50-1): Much will be heard from this 20-year-old Australian…but will it be this week?  Finished 6th at Pebble Beach in his last start, and has a good bit of insider buzz around him.

Trevor Immelman (50-1): Only five of the 15 players with better odds are above him in the World Ranking.  Still regaining form after off-season surgery, but he surely rates shorter odds than this.

Elsewhere: At the HSBC Champions in Singapore, Lorena Ochoa (5-2) comes in better rested than Annika Sorenstam (11-2), but looking at the posted odds for Paula Creamer (7-1), Suzann Pettersen (16-1), Ji-Yai Shin (20-1), etc., might the smart move simply be to bet on both Ochoa and Sorenstam, effectively taking them against the field?..........Adam Scott (6-1) and Vijay Singh (9-1) are the favorites at the Johnnie Walker Classic, and while either might win against this comparatively lean field, recent form suggests that these odds are a bit short.  Homestanding Jyoti Randhawa (who finished second last week in India) might be a better bet at 18-1, while countryman S.S.P. Chowrasia (a winner two weeks ago at the Indian Masters) is an interesting flyer at 66-1.