The Honda Classic has produced some spectacular golf over the years and The Champion Course at PGA National Resort sets the stage for the world's best to do what they do best. Last year's winner Rickie Fowler is tipped to retain his title, but who else is in the running?

Kevin Kisner’s form has been declining through 2018, with T17, T25, T50 and a missed cut his respective results this year. That said, the American was on a run of T42, T54, T53, T67 before closing the 2016/17 season with a T3 at the TOUR Championship and opening his 2017/18 PGA Tour campaign with T4 at The RSM Classic. So form is irrelevant when you talk about Kevin Kisner. What isn’t irrelevant is his second-place ranking in Strokes Gained: Putting. Remember how critical putting was for Rickie Fowler on this course last year; a thirty-footer at the eighth and thirty-eight footer at the twelfth proving crucial during a wobbly final day. Fowler himself admitted “If I don’t make those putts I’ve got a pretty tight race”, so there it is: straight from the horse’s mouth.

Gary Woodland tied for second at last year’s Honda Classic and, given his form in 2018, can’t be ignored at 30/1. Perhaps this is due to his missed cut at Pebble Beach last year, but he’s certainly a danger man with superb form, fifth-place in the PGA Tour’s Stroke Gained: Putting ranking and second-place in Greens in Regulation (GIR). Alex Noren can also be found at 30/1, but whilst plenty of pundits are backing him I just don’t think he’s got the right game for this course.

History would tell you that the PGA National course tends to force moments of quality, which, as well as making it awesome to watch, should push the best players toward the top of the leaderboard. However, I think we’ll have to wait a while longer for Rory McIlroy’s comeback. Rickie Fowler is the favourite for good reason and it doesn’t surprise me that Justin Thomas is priced at only 11/1 because, like I said, PGA National often forces out the sort of quality that only a handful of golfers possess, and Thomas is certainly in that handful.

I would never go as far as to call the bookies “kind”, but I think 30/1 on Gary Woodland is surprisingly generous. Kevin Kisner at 55/1 is less surprising but no less generous. Kisner’s game should suit this course perfectly and his sixth-place ranking in Driving Accuracy Percentage on the PGA Tour could be decisive during the course's infamous "Bear Trap", so he’s my each-way pick this week. Rickie Fowler’s favourite status is deserved but I hate to tip a favourite, so I’m going with Justin Thomas to get his first win of the calendar year.

Written by Joe Carabini

Joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com