PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Until the scores started pouring in Thursday morning, I’d forgotten how much fun it is to leaderboard-watch at the Honda Classic.
There are few tournaments on the annual schedule that feature so many stark U-turns — in both directions. It makes things fun to watch and utterly terrifying to bet.
Not that it’ll stop us.
Let’s check out my three favorite matchups for Friday’s second round:
Lucas Glover over Chris Kirk by -0.5 (-145)
Even if it’s unwritten, there’s probably a rule against taking one player over a guy he beat by nine the previous day, while giving up a half-stroke at much worse than even money.
And yet, here we are.
Following an opening 4-under 66, I like Glover’s chances to keep it going, based on ball-striking that has him second on the PGA Tour in greens in regulation. Kirk needs to play aggressively to make the cut — a bad idea at this course.
Jimmy Walker over Scott Piercy (+140)
I heard some Piercy chatter entering this week, but I was never quite on-board with that pick. He did beat Walker by a stroke on Thursday, but I still think this should be an even-money bet — or even favored toward Walker a little. Give the value here at +140.
Nick Watney over Sungjae Im (Even)
Even though he started out like gangbusters this year, Im missed the cut in his two previous starts entering this week. He owns a ton of talent, but I’m still not convinced a short, tight course on Bermuda is his sweet spot. Watney, meanwhile, started nicely and should be able to keep that going.
