Honda Classic Odds – “Spiderman” Villegas wraps up PGA National

March 6, 2010

Online betting players have been waiting for Camilo Villegas to fulfill the big potential he had turning professional in 2006, and last year was inconsistent after a blistering end to 2008. Villegas will tee it up at the Honda Classic this week, and he loves playing in Florida, where he went to school after coming from Colombia, and he’ll be out to grab a win after a great start to 2010.

Lee Westwood was the favorite at +1500, but he hurt his knee last week at home in England, so it’s another group of foreigners who will assume the role the favorite. Rory McIlroy, Robert Allenby and Paul Casey are all rated at +1600. Allenby may be your best bet with top-fives in each of the last two years at the Honda Classic, but Casey has a top-10 in Hawaii early this year, and finished second to fellow Englishman Ian Poulter in the Match Play event.
Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Tim Clark, Sergio Garcia, Camilo Villegas and Mike Weir come in at +2500, and Harrington won this event in 2005, before the Honda Classic switched to the PGA National in 2007.  Els won this event in 2008, and the “Big Easy” has played some solid golf this year as he’s made an effort to play more PGA Tour events. However, Villegas may be the best play from this group as he’s coming off an eighth-place finish in Scottsdale last week, and he beat Garcia in the third-place match of the Match Play event.
Defending champion Y.E. Yang joins rookie Rickie Fowler at +2800, and Yang finished one spot behind Fowler in third at Scottsdale last week. Yang has been steady, but Fowler is playing with a lot of confidence, which is huge for a rookie, but this is a tough course.
Justin Rose and Justin Leonard are darkhorse bets in your sportsbook at +5000 and +6600, respectively, and Rose put up a 62nd-place result at Scottsdale. Leonard didn’t even make the cut, but he won this event in 2003. Both have struggled early in the season, but they’re good golfers who just need a good week to get on track.
Golf Picks: This event has been won by non-Americans in four of the last five years, and that trend will continue this year as Camilo Villegas will pick up his first win of the year. Villegas’ streaky putter has been on so far this year, and if he can keep his driver in the fairway, it’ll be a rout. He also usually fares well during the “Florida Swing” (he went to school at Florida), so take a shot on Camilo Villegas this week.
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