The PGA Tour heads East leaving behind the California portion of their
regular season as they head to Palm Beach Gardens to face the Bear Trap
and the tough course that hosts the Honda Classic every season. PGA
National Resort & Spa’s Champion Course is one of the hardest
par-70's on the Tour and always provides plenty of drama.
Rory McIlroy (8/1): Rory
had a low-key first three visits here (13th, 40th, 70th) but he's been
the story for the last two years. In 2012 he produced a brilliant
display to win and go to world number one while last year, when clearly
troubled, he stormed off the course after shipping shots galore in round
two. His game, and his head, look in a much better place this year
after a second in Abu Dhabi and a ninth in Dubai so it's not a surprise
to see him as the favourite in front of Tiger.
Tiger Woods (9/1): There
are some obvious fors and againsts for Tiger this week. On the plus
side he's won his last three starts in Florida (Players, Bay Hill,
Cadillac in 2013); on the downside he hasn't had a top 10 in a PGA Tour
event on US soil since August! In this tournament he produced a flying
finish (62) to finish runner-up on debut in 2012 while last year he was a
modest tied 37th after a closing 74. This is his first start since his
tied 41st in Dubai four weeks ago.
Charl Schwartzel (16/1):
The South African hasn't been outside the top 15 in three starts at PGA
National (9th 2013, 5th 2012, 14th 2011) so clearly gets on well with
the course. He only made the second round of the Match Play, which could
be a blessing in disguise in terms of freshness, while before that he
shot four strong rounds (69-68-68-68) to finish fifth in the Northern
Trust Open at Riviera. His only win on U.S. soil remains his Masters
victory in 2011.
Adam Scott (18/1): The
current Masters champion makes his first start since the two Hawaii
events at the start of January where he finished sixth (Tournament of
Champions) and eighth (Sony Open). It's only the Aussie's second
appearance in this event and he certainly doesn't have happy memories of
the first when he shot 77-82 to miss the cut by a mile. Scott has won
10 times on the PGA Tour but his only Florida success came 10 years ago
at The Players.
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