For the first time this season, the PGA TOUR is in Florida this week after spending the first part of the year on the West Coast with a stop last week in Mexico. Formerly known as The Honda Classic, this week’s Cognizant Classic will take place at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens. With players trying to stay dry and survive the famous “Bear Trap,” it’s the start of a great stretch of golf that leads up to The Masters as the first major of the season. To get in on some of the action this week, check out my top 3-ball picks for the Cognizant Classic.
If you’re not familiar with the 3-ball matchups, let’s quickly review the ground rules. In the matchup section of the tournament page, there are six Tournament Trios that match up three players head-to-head for the duration of the tournament. I find 3-balls to be a perfect balance of risk and reward. They are a great way to get plus odds but still have a management matchup to attack. Last week in Mexico, I expanded to play the Tournament Groups of five players each, and I hit on one winner with Alex Smalley delivering at +280. These picks aren’t quite that much of a long shot usually, but hitting a winner from a group of three is much easier than a group of five.
Looking at this week’s 3-balls, there are a few picks that jump out as my favorites, which I’ve highlighted below. For a full rundown of the course and event history, check out my post on where the Cognizant Classic is being played.
Daniel Berger (+155)
Berger has pulled away as the clear favorite in this 3-ball, but he’s still at strong odds against Davis Thompson (+180) and Cameron Young (+180). Berger has an excellent course history at PGA National and some strong recent form that point to him as the best option in this Trio.
Amid all his injury issues the past few years, Berger finished in the top five three times at PGA National. He lost in a playoff all the way back in 2015 against Padraig Harrington, and he has added a pair of fourth-place finishes in 2020 and 2022. Last year, he started with a 68 in Round 1 but missed the cut after a difficult Friday.
This season, Berger has been playing very well and leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green while ranking second in Total Strokes Gained over the last 20 rounds. While he did miss the cut at the Sony Open, he has made the cut and finished in the top 25 in three of four events since then, highlighted by a T-2 at the WM Phoenix Open behind Thomas Detry and a top-15 finish at The Genesis Invitational in his most recent event.
Berger has the distinct advantage over Thompson, who has had most of his success on the West Coast and only played this event one time, finishing T-47 last season. He finished one stroke behind Berger with a T-13 at The Genesis Invitational but had not had a top-35 finish in his other five events this season.
The third member of the trio is Cameron Young, who does have a good history at this event with a T-16 in 2022 and a T-4 in 2024. However, Young missed the cut at The Genesis Invitational two weeks ago and also at The American Express while only finishing T-72 at Pebble Beach. His inconsistent recent form is why I’d rather go with Berger in this matchup even though Young has higher odds.
Max Greyserman (+170)
I highlighted Greyserman in my top tournament pivot plays for this event and love his current form coming to PGA National for what is essentially a home game. He is pitted against Billy Horschel (+175) and Andrew Novak (+175) in this trio.
Greyserman has only officially played this event once, finishing T-47 last season, but he grew up and lives nearby. He is in the top 10 in Total Strokes Gained over the last 30 rounds and usually performs much better on Bermuda greens like he’ll see this week.
Horschel is actually another play I like a lot for DFS this week, but he is high risk after missing the cut at the Phoenix Open and The Genesis Invitational. He’ll probably fare better coming back to Florida, but he’s also very involved in off-course happenings with the LIV-PGA TOUR deal and could be pulled in multiple directions this week. If Greyserman struggles, Horschel could take this group, but it doesn’t seem the most likely outcome.
The other member of the trio is a little more of a wild card. Novak is coming off a T-13 at The Genesis Invitational and he also had a T-13 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and a solo third at the Farmers Insurance Open. Novak also finished in the top 10 at this event last season and has made the cut in three of his four appearances. His high finishes give him a high ceiling, but he also has missed the cut in three of his six tournaments this season, including at the Sony Open on a similar layout to this week’s course.
Both Horschel and Novak have enough “boom” to win the group, but they have much more “bust” than Greyserman. This should be a great Tournament Trio to watch this week, but I’ll go with Greyserman to get the victory.
Keith Mitchell (+200)
Let’s go with one player that has longer odds this week in case you’re looking for more of a long shot in your Tournament Trio. Mitchell has the longest odds in his 3-ball against Sungjae Im (+150) and Min Woo Lee (+175). If you’ve followed along with my picks in the early part of the season, you know I’m a big fan of Min Woo Lee, but I don’t think either of those options can match Mitchell’s experience at PGA National this week.
Mitchell’s one PGA TOUR career win came at this track in 2019. Since then, he has made the cut in three of four return trips, including a T-9 in 2022 and another T-9 last season. While Mitchell hasn’t been in contention to win any events in 2025, he has bounced back nicely after missing his final four cuts in 2024 by making the cut at the Sony Open, The American Express and the WM Phoenix Open and finishing no worse than T-33 in any of his four events.
He ranks 15th in the field in Total Strokes Gained over the last 16 rounds and second in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. It’s been his putter that has been holding him back, so maybe the change to Bermuda greens can help him get rolling.
Sungjae Im won this event in 2020 the year after Mitchell. He finished T-8 the next year but has missed the cut in two of his last three trips here with a T-42 in 2023 as his only made cut. He has also been inconsistent lately with missed cuts at The Genesis Invitational and The American Express and a T-57 at the Phoenix Open around two strong showings with a third-place finish at The Sentry and a T-4 at the Farmers Insurance.
Unlike Mitchell and Im, Min Woo Lee has not won here but did finish tied for second last year behind Austin Eckroat and also posted a T-26 in 2023. He had several strong finishes to finish 2024 and start 2025 but tailed off a bit with a T-48 at The Genesis Invitational.
Getting Mitchell at +200 is a great value since it’s easy to see him pulling the upset in this 3-ball. His past success on this track and solid form make him a strong play to back to triple your money if he can outplay just Im and Lee this week.
