The PGA Tour’s “Florida Swing” tees off with the Cognizant Classic, which begins Thursday at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Our golf experts preview the event and share their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.
COGNIZANT CLASSIC
Location: Cognizant Classic, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Feb. 27-March 2
Course: PGA National, Champion (Par 71, 7,167 Yards)
Purse: $9.2M (Winner: $1.656M)
Defending Champion: Austin Eckroat
FedEx Cup leader: Ludvig Aberg
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (NBC)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Sunday: 6:45 a.m.-6 p.m. ET
X: @CognizantClassic
PROP PICKS
–Sepp Straka to Beat Russell Henley (-105 at DraftKings): Henley is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 17 and is a past winner of the event. He also has a pair of top-10s through four 2025 starts. One of those came at Pebble Beach, where he finished one shot ahead of Straka. Outside of a missed cut at the Genesis, the big Austrian has been in excellent form this year, with a win at The American Express followed by top-15s at Pebble Beach and Phoenix.
–Shane Lowry Top 20 Finish (+100 at BetRivers): This should be a virtual lock, with Lowry the second highest-ranked player in the field at No. 19. After a solo second at Pebble Beach the Irishman finished T39 at the Genesis. Both signature events had far stronger fields than Lowry will see at PGA National, where he finished T4 last year after holding the 54-hole lead.
–Taylor Pendrith Top Canadian (+125 at DraftKings): Pendrith has been on an extended strong run with six top-10s during a streak of 17 consecutive made cuts worldwide. He did fail to make the weekend at PGA National last year, but that came before his breakthrough PGA Tour win at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Mackenzie Hughes (+300) is the biggest threat in a group that also includes Adam Svensson (+360) and Ben Silverman (+400).
2025 Prop Pick Record: 8-11-1
BEST BETS
–Shane Lowry (+2000 at DraftKings) has three consecutive top-five finishes at PGA National and was the 54-hole leader last year. He’s second in the field with 7 percent of the money wagered and 5 percent of all bets backing Lowry to win this week.
–Sungjae Im (+2200) has struggled his past three events with a best finish of T33, but did win at PGA National in 2020.
–Russell Henley (+2200) won the event in 2014, and is third with 6 percent of the money backing him to add a second title at PGA National 11 years later.
–Sepp Straka (+25000 enters at No. 19 and won The American Express this year. He has been backed by 4 percent of both the total money and total bets wagered on this week’s winner.
–Daniel Berger (+2800) has finished T2 in Phoenix and 12 at the Genesis in his past two starts. He’s one of several tour players who live in nearby Jupiter, Fla., and enters in strong form while seeking his first win since 2021. He leads the field with 9 percent of the money wagered backing him to do just that this week.
–Austin Eckroat (+5000) won by three strokes last year, when he led the field with 23 birdies.
NOTES
–This event presents the final opportunity to earn spots into The Players by being within the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking or with the top 10 of the FedExCup standings at the end of the tournament. It also is the second and final event for the Aon Swing 5 to earn entry into next week’s signature event at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The top 5 currently: Aldrich Potgieter, Isaiah Salinda, Ben Griffin, Joel Dahmen, Nicolai Hojgaard.
–Jordan Spieth will make his tournament debut and his fourth start since returning from wrist surgery last August. He missed the cut at the Genesis Invitational following a T4 at the WM Phoenix Open.
–Florida State junior Luke Clanton needs to make the cut to gain the point he needs to earn full PGA Tour membership through the University Accelerated program. He’s coming off a victory in his first college start of the season at last week’s Watersound Invitational. Other sponsor exemptions include Ryder Cup captains Luke Donald and Zach Johnson.
–Justin Leonard holds the tournament scoring record of 264 set in 2003.
–Field Level Media
