The Florida swing begins this week with the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, which is formerly known as the Honda Classic. While the name of this event has changed, the venue remains the same, with the inaugural Cognizant Classic being played at the Champion Course (par 71, 7,147 yards, Bermuda greens) of PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens this week, which has hosted every Honda Classic since 2007. This will be a field of 144 golfers and there will be a standard top-65 and ties cut after the first two rounds.
With an average winning score of 10.2 strokes under par over the last five years, PGA National is without a doubt one of the most challenging non-major courses on the PGA TOUR. This Tom Fazio-designed track features narrow fairways, difficult-to-hold greens, 60 bunkers and water in play on 15 of the 18 holes. Additionally, with PGA National located near the coast, wind always becomes a factor at this course and holes 15-17 – also known as the “Bear Trap” – is regarded as one of the most difficult three-hole stretches on the PGA TOUR.
Finding the fairway is far more important than being long at PGA National and clubbing down OTT to improve your accuracy will be a strategy used by most of the field this week. The average drive at PGA National is over 10 yards shorter than a normal PGA TOUR event and while OTT stats aren’t a focus at this venue, APP stats are crucial at PGA National. Of the last five champions at this tricky par 71, four finished the tournament top-seven in SG APP. The four par threes at PGA National all present an average score over par and scoring well on these holes is crucial for contending at PGA National, as three of the past five winners at this venue have finished the event top-six in par three efficiency.
Below, I break down four of my favorite sub $7.5K DraftKings bargain plays for the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Pitch + Putt [$200K to 1st]
Matt Wallace ($7,200) – Wallace is on the heels of a T33 finish at the Mexico Open last week, in which he gained strokes in every major category. The English professional has now advanced to the weekend in 16 of his last 18 starts worldwide, including eight finishes of T33rd or better. On top of the convincing form, Wallace has produced two top-30 finishes in four appearances at PGA National.
The 33-year-old is far too cheap for his safety and is one of the best values on the board this week.
Lucas Glover ($7,100) – You can’t go wrong with Glover at this price. Even at the age of 44, the former major champion remains one of the best ball strikers on the PGA TOUR, ranking top-25 in both SGT2G and SG APP this season. Thanks to his elite ball striking, Glover has only missed three cuts in his last 16 starts. During this timeframe, the veteran has racked up nine top-30 finishes, most notably with back-to-back wins last summer, at the Wyndham Championship and St. Jude Championship.
With PGA National being a second-shot course that requires elite ball striking, Glover has been very successful at the difficult Florida track, making 9-of-14 cuts for his career. Glover has provided a top-30 finish in five of his last six attempts at PGA National and is an outstanding bargain for this low salary.
Andrew Novak ($5,900) – After finishing T8 at the Phoenix Open, Novak kept his foot on the gas at the Mexico Open last week, recording another T8 finish. The main reason for his recent success has been Novak’s incredible ball striking, with him ranking top-seven in SG APP at both of these tournaments. Novak impressively ranks top-seven in SGT2G, SG APP and SG ARG for the season, and he has vaulted himself up 119 spots in the world golf rankings with these past two high finishes, to a career-best No.188.
In addition to playing the best golf of his career, Novak has made 2-of-3 cuts at PGA National, with his best result being a T29 last season. Novak should outdo himself with an even higher finish this time around and is an absolute steal at this sub $6K salary. To put into perspective how underpriced Novak is, he presents +1100 odds to win the Cognizant Classic on the DraftKings Sportsbook, which are better odds than Brendan Todd, who costs $7,600 for DFS purposes.
Parker Coody ($5,100) – Coody must be utilized at this near minimum salary. The 24-year-old was a featured pick in this article for last week’s Mexico Open and didn’t disappoint, carding a T24 finish in his debut at Vidanta. Coody has now finished inside the top-25 in back-to-back starts while gaining strokes on APP at both events. Furthermore, the former Texas Longhorn has now advanced to the weekend in four of his last five starts. Coody now sits at a career-best No.179 in the world golf rankings, but his salary on DraftKings has oddly dropped all the way down to $5,100 after costing $6,500 last week.
The only logic behind this is that Coody missed the cut in his first attempt at PGA National last year, but this was just his second career start on the PGA TOUR and Coody now sits a whopping 609 spots higher in the world golf rankings, as a new full-time member on the PGA TOUR. The ascending talent not only should make the cut this week, but Coody is a real threat for his third straight top-25 finish. Despite being priced $100 off the minimum, Coody carries +15000 odds to win the Cognizant Classic on the DraftKings Sportsbook, which are better odds than Jhonattan Vegas, who is significantly more expensive for DFS at $6,700.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Pitch + Putt [$200K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Hunta512) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skills and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
