Fantasy golf expert picks: 2018 Honda Classic

Need help with your fantasy-golf lineups for this week’s Honda Classic? Our fantasy-golf experts are here to help.

From picks to win to DraftKings bargains to players to avoid, here are some options for you to consider:

Brentley Romine

Projected champion: Rickie Fowler. Too easy? Well, Fowler is the clear favorite and almost everything points to him successfully defending his title.

Also like: Sergio Garcia, Gary Woodland, Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Tommy Fleetwood. Yup, I like everyone this week! (Joking.) Garcia is making his PGA Tour season debut this week and has enjoyed a nice winter overseas. He was runner-up here just two years ago. Woodland won a few weeks ago in Phoenix and he shared second here last year. Cabrera-Bello is super cheap in daily fantasy, and I still think he contends sometime soon on this tour. Fleetwood is a green-hitting machine, which obviously comes in handy this week especially.

Sleeper: Bud Cauley. Tied for 27th last year at Honda and is coming off T-20 at Riviera. Just needs to limit the bogeys.

DraftKings bargain: Billy Horschel ($7,100). Coming off two straight MCs, but he also has cracked the top 8 in each of the last two years here. Also feel good about David Lingmerth at $7,000.

Fade: Tiger Woods. You think driving it sideways at Riviera got him in trouble? Just wait until he starts missing fairways at PGA National.

• • •

Kevin Casey

Projected champion: Rory McIlroy. It’s time for Rory to step up with the Masters starting to loom. McIlroy has had his flashes already this year, including a pair of top threes. He also played a lot better at Pebble than his MC showed, and he posted a T-20 at Riviera despite dealing with Tiger crowds for two days. So he’s in a better place in his game than some of the results show, and while he’s hit or miss at Honda with a win and a runner-up but also a pair of recent missed cuts, that shows he can be brilliant here when things are clicking. It’s time.

Also like: Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia and Russell Knox. Fleetwood has been in great form, and while he’s a rookie at this venue, I think it’s one that suits his accurate game. Garcia is making his PGA Tour season debut this week, but who cares? His record here is stellar and he has a couple recent wins worldwide. Knox sneakily placed top 15 at Pebble and comes to a venue where he boasts a pair of top-three showings.

Sleeper: John Huh. He’s been in form of late with four straight finishes of 45th or better (one of them being a top 3). He also is a good fit at PGA National, where his recent results include a T-14 and a T-17.

DraftKings bargain: Luke Donald ($7,000). He finally found some form with a T-37 at Riv, and he’s a bit of a course horse at PGA National. He’s a past Honda winner, but at a different site. No matter, since the event’s move to PGA National in ’07, he’s posted four top 10s in seven starts. They didn’t all come in his heyday either, as Donald had a T-8 in 2014 and a T-7 in 2015. His T-27 last year was also none too shabby. So he’s playing better and on a course where he’s incredibly comfortable. A lot to like at this price.

Fade: Patrick Reed. I picked Bubba in this spot last week, so, uhh, yeah. Anyway, Reed has just been too streaky of late (missed cuts in three of his last seven starts) for me to trust at all.

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