Honda Classic first-round preview, Steve Palmer's best bets & free golf tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the first round of the Honda Classic at PGA National on the PGA Tour.

When to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 1.30pm Thursday

Best bets

Billy Horschel to beat Byeong Hun An
4pts 4-5 Betfair

Emiliano Grillo to beat Harry Higgs
3pts 11-10 Coral, Ladbrokes

Emiliano Grillo to win threeball
2pts 6-4 Coral, Ladbrokes

Tommy Fleetwood & Gary Woodland dual forecast
1pt 110-1 Sky Bet

Honda Classic first-round preview

The likes of Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas have not put the Honda Classic on their schedule this year, but the tournament organisers can still boast two sets of appealing first-round threeballs, with local man Rickie Fowler among the early starters.

• Honda Classic tournament tips

Fowler is joined by young guns Viktor Hovland and Joaquin Niemann in the 12.35pm (UK and Ireland time) group, with Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Billy Horschel following ten minutes later. Open champion Shane Lowry stars in the second wave, alongside Gary Woodland and Louis Oosthuizen at 5.25pm, while Brooks Koepka, Matt Wolff and defending champion Keith Mitchell follow behind.

Hovland, Fleetwood, Woodland and Koepka would be the token selections for the marquee matches, but punters are advised to save most of their stake money for a 72-hole investment on Horschel to outscore Byeong Hun An.

Horschel is relishing the chance to compete in his home state this week at a venue where he has form figures of 8-4-MC-16 over the last four Hondas. The Floridian has always been a greens in regulation machine well suited to difficult layouts like PGA National, while his putting form has picked up over the last few months.

Horschel has finished ninth in his last two events – the Phoenix Open and the WGC-Mexico Championship – and should prove too solid for the more erratic An over four rounds at a breezy PGA National.

Another match-bet option which appeals is Emiliano Grillo as 11-10 outsider against Harry Higgs. Grillo, eighth in the 2018 Honda, finished third in the Puerto Rico Open on Sunday to indicate that his swing is back in order. The Argentinian is typically a solid tee-to-green performer who can be favoured against Honda debutant Higgs.

Grillo is also worth supporting to win his first-round threeball (12.55pm) against Charl Schwartzel and Kiradech Aphibarnrat. Schwartzel has been making some peculiar equipment decisions in recent weeks, including switching to a ball used by nobody else on the circuit, while Aphibarnrat has been sliding down the world rankings.

More ambitious punters should consider the 110-1 available about the Fleetwood and Woodland outright dual forecast. These two elite ball-strikers seem likely contenders for the title.

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