The Honda Classic Sleeper Picks

Off to Florida we go for The Honda Classic! This is the southern stretch of the PGA Tour that includes four weeks in Florida and two in Texas before teeing off for the Masters Tournament. Once again the field for the 2021 Honda Classic will be a strong one with PGA Tour players looking to tame the “bear trap” at the PGA National so finding sleeper picks for the Honda Classic will mean a combination of stats to analyze but factoring course history is something that fantasy golf players will need to also take into consideration when building DFS lineups

The PGA National Champion Course is a Par 70, 7,140 yard test of golf that is one of the most difficult courses on the PGA Tour. Windy conditions and a bunch of water hazards along with one of the toughest 3 hole stretches in golf known as the “Bear Trap,” which run from holes 15, 16, and 17 which have in the past won and more often lost tournaments… this is what you are faced with as a DFS golf player looking to make a lineup from and more importantly make Honda Classic Sleeper Picks from. An added twist is that the course has had some renovation done to it which meant moving some greens closer to the water and some general improvements on the greens. The course was already tough so this will only make it tougher!

If you want some real research and sleeper picks for Honda Classic, don’t just use our sleepers below, but trust a top site like Golfstats.com to get you the picks that will win you money this week for your DFS lineups. Hell, they will also help you make some solid bets on golf too if you want to wade into betting on golf. Sign up to Golfstats below and get a discount when you use GolfStats Promo Code GOLFBONUS. It’s a small price to pay to get expert fantasy golf picks for DraftKings and they have sleepers that will help out your lineups too!

The Honda Classic Golf Course

PGA National Champion Course par 70 - 7,140 yards

PGA National is a tough course and you will want to focus more on ball strikers instead of long drivers. You want guys that with hit the fairway avoiding hazards and then make the solid shot onto the green to give players any hope of a birdie chance. PGA National moves away from the scary Poa annua grass and to the more favorable Bermuda surfaces so you will want to see what players excel on Bermuda surfaces. The greens themselves are a pretty large size but often narrow and many are surrounded by water or guarded by bunkers so Greens in regulation will be a stat to check out this week.

Par 4 scoring is another stat to pay attention to as there are only two Par 5’s this week. As we said, ball strikers will be front and center this week since most golfers will leave the drivers in the bag and go for the long irons. Most of the past Honda Classic winners were in the Top 5 in Par four scoring during the week. Another important stat to consider is the BOB% - birdie or better since you will want guys that can find the birdies on a course that doesn’t give up too many of them.

Guys are going to get into trouble this week so look for guys that are good at Scrambling. The rough on the PGA National is hard and guys are going to find the water and the bunkers. How they save par or even just settle for a bogey instead of a really big number is what will ultimately decide the winner of the Honda Classic this week.

One stat that we haven’t really talked about much in the past but will be in play here are the accuracy stats namely the Rough Proximity. It’s a measure of how close a player can get the ball on the green when sitting in the rough off the tee. Accuracy is going to play a big part this week and you should value that stat over distance. The PGA National Champions course is a tight undulating fairways course that surrounded with water and bunkers not just along the fairways - but right smack dab in the middle of some of the fairways

Because of how tough the course is, Strokes Gained Tee to Green will be another stat to consider since you will need to find golfers that are good at finding birdies along the way. The average winning score tends to land in the -8 to -10 range at the end so there won’t be a ton of scoring chances – look for the guys that can create them!

Obviously don’t forget to look at putting, especially Bermuda grass specialists. Any chances for birdies will come from the short stick so finding guys that are solid from 5-10 feet or even 10-20 feet will be a priority. You could also add in bunker specialists and look at sand saves since many guys will be in the beach this week.

Some guys to consider when making your Honda Classic sleeper picks are good short iron players with good putting averages. I would also look at a player’s course history this week as some have a bad history facing the Bear Trap and some welcome the challenge. I would also check out the weather forecast for the week to mainly see how the winds will be but also if there is a hot dry stretch leading up to the Honda Classic you will have more balls that will bounce off the hard fairways and land in the surrounding water. This is a tough course to make DraftKings Fantasy picks for and even harder to make sleeper picks for your DraftKings lineups so factor in everything when making up your DFS lineups.

Key Stats Summary for the Honda Classic

Strokes Gained Tee to Green

Birdie or Better %

Strokes Gained Approach

Par 4 Scoring

Scrambling

Greens in Regulation

Strokes gained Putting

2021 Honda Classic Tournament Preview

Check out our 2021 Honda Classic Tournament Preview.

2021 Honda Classic Sleeper Picks

Jhonattan Vegas - Vegas has made his last 4 cuts at the Honda Classic including a T4 a few years ago. He’s a nice FanDuel sleeper pick but I am also going to bet on Vegas to finish in the Top 20 this week at his current betting odds for the Honda Classic.

Kyoung-Hoon Lee - A bit of a boom or bust player is around 50% in cuts made this year but finished in 2nd at the WM Phoenix Open a few weeks back and has had a few other solid showings. He is 2-2 at the Honda Classic with a T7 two years ago. Should be a low cost sleeper pick at all DFS sites that could pay off nicely in your GPP contests.

Maverick McNealy - Made some noise a few weeks ago at the AT&T Pro-Am finishing in 2nd. He played at the Honda Classic last year and finished in 11th his first time out. He is playing pretty well this year and is possibly on the cusp of a career breakout. I will stash him on a few DraftKings lineups this week although not too many.

For more Honda Classic Sleeper Picks that could help you win money this week click on the graphic below: