The Honda Classic was founded in 1972 as the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic and played at the Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill, Fla., where Gleason had his retirement home on the course. “The Honeymooners” star served as host through 1980.
The tournament was held at various venues in South Florida before moving in 2007 to PGA National, where it has been able to attract top players on a more consistent basis. The favorites at William Hill are Tommy Fleetwood (10/1), Brooks Koepka (11/1) and Rickie Fowler (12/1). Here are some players with longer odds who have a shot to make Ralph Kramden proud:
The plays
Gary Woodland (22/1): Many major champions have won here, and the defending U.S. Open champion certainly can add his name to the mix. Woodland leads the field (and is second on the PGA Tour overall) in ball striking.
Billy Horschel (28/1): Horschel has two top-10 finishes here (eighth in 2016 and fourth in 2017). He also comes in to the Florida Swing off back-to-back top-10 finishes at Phoenix and the WGC-Mexico.
Shane Lowry (35/1): The defending-champion Golfer of the Year doesn’t have much of a record at PGA National but is one of the world’s better players on difficult courses with windy conditions.
Harris English (60/1): English rates second on the PGA Tour for greens in regulation and first in bogey avoidance. The Georgia Bulldog is back in Florida, where he loves the Bermuda greens.
Corey Conners (60/1): The Canadian has become one of the better pure ball strikers on tour. The flat stick holds him back but he’s better on Bermuda than other surfaces.
Matthew NeSmith (80/1): NeSmith has made seven straight cuts and has posted his two best finishes (T11 Pebble Beach, T6 Puerto Rico) in his past two events.