Once among the most popular stops on Tour, the Honda Classic has fallen on hard times in terms of field strength. That just means it’s time to grind even harder and find the hidden gems for another week of golf betting and DFS. 

Recent changes to the annual Tour schedule have the Honda in a tough spot. It’s now sandwiched between a massive stretch of tournaments, immediately after the Waste Management Open and Genesis Invitational and proceeding a one-two punch of the Arnold Palmer and the Players Championship. 

The real ones still show up to PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens for what can be a brutal test to kick off the Florida swing. Conditions resemble a US Open when the wind blows throughout a back nine filled with water and trouble lurking at every turn. 

This is a stern test with major season firmly on the horizon, and it’s now a chance for lesser-known players to establish themselves and make a big statement with the Players Championship just two weeks away. 

Last Week: Betting favorite Jon Rahm continued his West Coast tear, outlasting Max Homa for a two-shot win over a loaded Genesis Invitational field at Riviera. Rahm was priced at $11,100 for what would be his third win in his last five starts, getting him back to No. 1 in the OWGR. Homa was priced at $9,700 as the cream rose to the top of a loaded daily fantasy sports leaderboard. 

2023 Honda Classic Key Details

Course Location: Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

PGA National: 7,125 yards, Par 70. Greens: Bermuda

Past Winners

• 2022 – Sepp Straka, 270 (-10)
• 2021 – Matt Jones, 268 (-12)
• 2020 – Sungjae Im, 274 (-6)
• 2019 – Keith Mitchell, 271 (-9)
• 2018 – Justin Thomas, 272 (-8)
• 2017 – Rickie Fowler, 268 (-12)
• 2016 – Adam Scott, 271 (-9)
• 2015 – Padraig Harrington, 274 (-6)
• 2014 – Russell Henley, 272 (-8)
• 2013 – Michael Thompson, 271 (-9)

2023 Honda Classic Best DFS Picks By Price

11K-9K Range: Best DFS Picks For Honda Classic

Shane Lowry, $10,400: Lowry is coming off his best week since he won the BMW PGA Championship last September, logging a T-14 for the week at the Genesis Invitational. He was completely dialed in with the irons and had a great four rounds off the tee. He didn’t get many putts to fall, but the confidence is there and he’s heading to a course where he finished solo second a year ago. It’s a heavy price tag for Lowry, but given the field we like him at the top of the lineup. 

Denny McCarthy, $9,100: McCarthy is as consistent a player as you’ll find on Tour throughout the bag. He’s usually right around the field average off the tee and strokes gained approach. We like consistent ballstriking at this course, where players can get ejected in a hurry if they’re having too many swing thoughts. McCarthy is a grinder and this is a grinder’s course. He finished T-30 here last year and T-3 in 2021. The 29-year-old is up for the challenge and if he’s putting as well as we’ve seen in recent weeks, it should be a very rewarding week for McCarthy owners. 

9K-8K Range: Best DFS Picks For Honda Classic

Jhonattan Vegas, $8,600: One could do a lot worse than Vegas in the mid-$8,000s this week. For starters, Vegas is hitting it beautifully. The longtime Tour pro has gained strokes on the field off the tee in 12 consecutive events, and he’s had positive strokes gained approach in seven straight tournaments. That’s the name of the game at PGA National, where Vegas has been solid if not spectacular over the years. Going 6 of 6 with players making the cut is a huge challenge with this field, and Vegas has played the weekend in 9 of 10 prior starts at PGA National. We like him to make some noise this week. 

Adrian Meronk, $8,300: We cited Meronk as a bargain bin option for the Genesis, and he did well to make the cut en route to a T-45 finish. We’ll be looking for more out of him at this price range, but few guys in the field have been playing at this level lately. Meronk has four top-10s and a win in his last seven starts, and he’s one of the longest hitters in the field. That will give him an edge on some tricky approach shots and this is the type of field against which Meronk has had plenty of success in Europe. We’ll take a shot on the 29-year-old Poland native in Florida. 

8K-7K Range: Best DFS Picks For Honda Classic

Justin Suh, $7,600: We were curious to see how Suh looked at Riviera after withdrawing from Pebble Beach due to injury. He looked just fine and played decent throughout the bag for a T-40 finish. That makes it eight consecutive cuts made for the 25-year-old, who won the Korn Ferry Tour Championship last September amid a stretch of five top-10s in six Korn Ferry starts. He seems to be building more confidence on Tour and a lack of course history isn’t a huge deal at PGA National. This is a straightforward test and Suh has all the tools to get it done. 

Byeong Hun An, $7,600: If you need some successful course history before pulling the trigger, An is a good move this week in the mid-$7,000 range. He missed the cut here last year but finished T-4 in 2021. He was also T-5 in 2018 and two top-5s in four starts is a pretty solid track record for PGA National. The irons have been strong so far in 2023 and he’ll be well-rested having not played in Phoenix or at Riviera. An has made four consecutive cuts to start the year and we like him to have another good week in Florida.

7K and Below: Best DFS Picks For Honda Classic

Matthias Schmid, $6,800: This is quite the collection of names in the sub-$7,000 group, and we’ll kick things off with Schmid. The 25-year-old is coming off back-to-back missed cuts at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach, but he logged a T-6 earlier this month against a decent field at the American Express. He absolutely pounds it off the tee and the putter has been solid all year. He can get a little loose with the driver, but the fairways at PGA National are pretty generous. This is a high-risk, high-reward play and it’s absolutely the right week for that.

Andrew Novak, $6,700: We’ll favor youth over experience in this price range, and we’ve seen some promising signs from 27-year-old Andrew Novak lately. He finished T-20 in his last start at Pebble Beach and has been coming along in his second full season on Tour, making three of his last four cuts. He missed the cut here last year, but that came in a stretch when Novak’s game was miserable. This year he’s been trending up, and we don’t mind taking shots deep down the board with fields like this. 

2023 Honda Classic, Date & TV

When: Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 23-26

Where: PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

TV: Golf Channel, NBC