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Expert picks for The Honda Classic

Brian Gay has the game to contend this week at PGA National. Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The PGA Tour heads to Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. this weekend for The Honda Classic.

Our ESPN and FantasyGolfInsider experts have laid out the players whom they believe have the skills to succeed and provide big fantasy point totals.


Picks to win

Sergio Garcia

Making his 2018 U.S. debut, the reigning Masters champion has the ball-striking prowess to succeed at PGA National. He finished second to Adam Scott in 2016 and already has a victory to his name earlier this year at the Singapore Open. -- Bob Harig

Daniel Berger

Neither form nor recent course history seems like it's on his side -- he MC'd in last week's Genesis Open and each of the last two editions of the Honda -- but he's played well so far this year and is back on home turf at an event where he once reached a playoff. -- Jason Sobel


DraftKings value picks

Luke Donald

Donald has his spots on the PGA Tour, and this is one of them. The fact that he was able to make the cut last week and not finish last on a course that rewards strong off the tee play is a good thing. I love how he played last week on a course that wasn't fit for his game and now we get him on a course that should. His short game should get him through the cut and into the weekend. -- Taras Pitra

Chesson Hadley

In three tries here at PGA National, Hadley has two Top 25 finishes. This year has been a breakout year in his return to the PGA Tour from the Web.com Tour and he is a better player than he's ever been in the past. In his last four appearances this season he has made every cut and even posted a T5 at Waste Management. Hadley ranks highly in our FGI Model when you sort by statistics as he has been extremely good tee-to-green this season. At only $7,700 this week, I like his value for cash games, but also like his upside for GPPs. -- Jeff Bergerson

Bud Cauley

Cauley's been an excellent value play this season, with two top-10 finishes (RSM Classic and Safeway Open), and only one missed cut in eight events played. He's only played this course three times in his career, missing the cut in both 2012 and 2013, but finishing T27 last year. Cauley is typically strong on approach outside 150 yards -- and excellent hacking it out of the rough -- and his poor length with the driver (relative) is mitigated by that club mostly staying in everyone else's bag as well. He's strong on approach and from tee-to-green, has a strong putter, and is middle-of-the-pack in terms of birdie or better percentage. -- Adam Daly


FanDuel value picks

Sam Saunders

After a really poor start to his season in the fall where Saunders missed three of four cuts, the Florida native has raced to a strong start in 2018 with four starts and four finishes of 26th or better. He's been able to do it with a much improved tee-to-green game and an ability to score a lot of birdies to bail himself out of trouble, a trait which served him well during a strong stretch in 2017 when he posted three straight Top-25 finishes. In two previous starts at PGA National he has finished 17th or better. -- Zach Turcotte

Brian Gay

Between his poor course history and not being a household name, Gay is going to be off most people's radar this week. Couple those things with a missed cut at last week's Genesis Open, and you might think I'm crazy. But hear me out. Riviera is a long course which requires off-the-tee prowess, the weakest part of Gay's game. Prior to the Genesis Open, he'd made six straight cuts on Tour with three top-10 finishes. PGA National has similar attributes (windy, narrow, lots of water hazards, and bermuda greens) to Mayakoba, TPC Southwind, and Harbour Town, all of which are venues where Gay has won. And for those of you who are stat geeks, Gay ranks 18th in total strokes gained against the field over the past 10 weeks. -- Ryan Baroff

Russell Knox

Knox returns to action this week in The Honda Classic after finishing with a T15 in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am the last time out. He is in the midst of a nice bounce back season after a disappointing 2017 with only one missed cut so far. The PGA National Golf Club is also a course that the Scotsman has had previous success at; top 5 finishes in 2014 and 2015 shows that when his game is on that he has the upside to contend here. Knox's accuracy off the tee and ability to land the ball close to the pin should give him another opportunity to contend this year. $9,400 is a great mid-range value for Knox this week on FanDuel which allows the flexibility to still add a top tier golfer or two in your lineup. -- Erik Dantoft