Honda Classic Recap: Thomas Wins Playoff

Justin Thomas won the Honda Classic in a playoff over Luke List on Sunday.

Okay, now on to Tiger Woods. (But back to Thomas soon, because what he is doing is mind-boggling and not to be minimized.)

Woods now has two top-25s in three starts since his return, which is about two more than just about anybody not in the tank for Woods expected. Heck, noted Woods critic Brandel Chamblee now sounds like an excited schoolboy.

Really, it's hard for any golf fan to not get a little giddy. It's like we are getting back something we thought was gone for good. Of course, Woods must feel the same way.

His short game and putting were good from the get-go back at Torrey Pines. But his driving has improved significantly since then. Woods was 10th in greens in regulation for the week at PGA National, 11th in scrambling and 18th in strokes gained putting. But he was 44th in strokes gained off the tee.

We should next see Woods at Bay Hill, another one of those tracks where he has more wins than most guys have career wins. The excitement will be ratcheted up even more. But keep in mind that the Arnold Palmer Invitational is traditionally the second strongest field of the season, excluding majors, WGCs and playoff events (The Memorial is first). And then three weeks after Bay Hills comes Augusta.

It's now apparent that inserting Woods into your lineup is not a huge risk. It won't always pay off, but it's no longer outlandish. The thing to guard against, of course, is Tiger-inflated prices. Those aren't going away anytime soon.

You'll just have to weigh all the factors for yourself: high DFS price, likely high ownership, the fun of rooting for Tiger, the empty feeling of seeing Tiger do well when you don't pick him.

These are good fantasy golf problems to have.

Justin Thomas
When Thomas started winning golf tournament in earnest, he won shootouts – at courses where he could let loose with prodigious drives, with little penalty for misses. In the first four of Thomas' eight career victories, his winning score was at least 22-under in each of them. In three of the four titles Thomas has captured since, his winning score has been single digits, including 8-under at the Honda.

What we are seeing is an already great golfer getting better, a whole lot better. Thomas is really learning to play on tough courses, courses where he didn't have much prior success. He hits the ball as far as anyone not named Dustin Johnson. In the past, he didn't know how to take his foot off the pedal. Now, he does, which is why he won his first major last year at the PGA Championship, also with an 8-under score.

One of the things we're saying is, course history doesn't much matter with Thomas these days. He's a different guy from the one who played even a year or two ago. Thomas finished 39th in his debut Masters two years ago and 22nd last year. Don't be fooled by that. Don't sleep on Thomas at Augusta.

Jordan Spieth may be the Masters favorite, but Thomas just passed his good friend for No. 3 in the world, with a chance to move to No. 2 this week in Mexico.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Luke List
List was the darling of the DFS crowd early last season, when he rang up top-25 after top-25. And then he disappeared. It looked as if he would secure high finishes when the fields were weak but fell off when they got tough. That may be changing. List went T12-T26-T26 in his three previous tournaments before taking Thomas to a playoff and losing on the first hole on Sunday. Chances are, there will be some regression when we next see List. He won't be in the mix every week. But he's answered questions about his ability to compete in strong fields. He's at No. 76 in the world and on the rise.

Tommy Fleetwood
Fleetwood is showing his success in Europe translates to the PGA Tour. He can be in the mix week after week and now heads to Mexico, where he was runner-up a year ago. What is holding him back, both in general and on Sunday, when he finished solo fourth, is putting. The No. 11-ranked Englishman was second in strokes gained tee to green and 41st in SG putting. It will cost him some tournaments he might otherwise win.

Alex Noren
Noren is another Euro showing he can compete across the pond. He's played four times on the PGA Tour in 2018, all of them top-25s and two of them top-fives, including Sunday's solo third, to move to No. 14 in the OWGR. Unlike Fleetwood, the Swede is a fantastic putter, which is why he may have higher upside. Noren was ranked third at the Honda in SG putting.

Jamie Lovemark
The fact that Lovemark finished solo seventh at a course that traditionally had given him fits is a very good sign. He went through a rough patch of four straight trunk-slams earlier this season, but he's simply too good to have had that continue. Really, Lovemark has enough game to win, maybe even this season. Maybe not in an elite field, but good enough to win on Tour this season. He's much better than his No. 98 ranking.

Dylan Frittelli
Yep, another Euro. Well, Frittelli is actually South African but he primarily plays on the European Tour. And he's a comer. Frittelli finished solo 11th in his first start on the PGA Tour outside of two majors last season. The 27-year-old now has nine top-20s in his last 10 worldwide starts, including a win at the end of 2017. Don't forget about Frittelli this week in Mexico. He is up to a career-best No. 42 in the world.

Thomas Pieters
Pieters tied for 68th a week ago at Riviera, a surprise for a golfer who was co-runner-up there the year before. He rebounded nicely this week with a T13 and now he heads to Mexico, where the grasses are similar to Riviera and where the Belgian tied for fifth a year ago. There are a lot of good Euros. Pieters is not at the Fleetwood-Noren level, but he might be in the next wave.

Adam Scott
Scott fell from the top-50 in the OWGR not so much because of poor play but because of limited play. He just missed getting back inside to qualify for this week's WGC-Mexico. Scott tied for 13th at the Honda to move to No. 56 in the world. His days in the top-10 might be over, but the 37-year-old Aussie doesn't appear to be done yet, either. And we should continue to see some very favorable DFS prices for him.

Rory McIlroy
McIlroy came back from a long injury layoff to register a pair of top-5s in the Middle East at the beginning of the year. But in his three subsequent starts here in the States, he's gone MC-T20-T59. After such a lackluster week at the Honda, it's just as well that McIlroy is sitting out the WGC-Mexico. It doesn't appear his game is in condition to compete for the title.

Rickie Fowler
After missing the cut as the Honda defending champion, Fowler said his game has not really been good for some time – a month and a half, to be precise. That seems a little harsh, but we'll take his word for it. Fowler closed 2017 with a runner-up at Mayakoba and a win at the Hero World Challenge, then opened 2018 with a T4 at the Tournament of Champions. Nothing too shabby there. But what Fowler is talking about is a missed cut at Torrey Pines, a T11 at Phoenix and the MC at the Honda. Fowler knows best about his game, but he doesn't seem too far off to turn it around quickly.