The PGA TOUR shifts from the West Coast to Florida this week after back-to-back Signature Events. The first stop in Florida is PGA National Resort (The Champion Course), which has been the regular host for the Cognizant Classic since 2007. The challenging course with plenty of water is in Palm Beach Gardens, just north of Miami. The Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches begins on Thursday, February 27, and will conclude on Sunday, March 1.
Let’s start the week with a look at the format, history, and course for the 2026 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.
The Format of the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches
After limited fields for the last two tournaments, which were classified as Signature Events, this week’s event has a full field of 123 golfers. Following two rounds at PGA National, the cut will reduce the field to the top 65 (and ties) for Rounds 3 and 4.
The winner this week will claim the $1.728 million top prize (from a $9.6 million purse) and 500 PGA TOUR FedExCup points.
The history of the tournament
This week’s Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches will be the first of four weeks in the Sunshine State, with THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass coming up in just three weeks. Before getting to the island green, though, the PGA TOUR will have this week’s event and next week’s Signature Event at Bay Hill.
This week’s tournament began in 1972 as “Jackie Gleason’s Inverrary Classic.” The event has often been in a tricky spot in the schedule, like this week, so it has struggled to draw a strong field. That has started to change in the last several years, though, since it settled at PGA National and got more backing from Jack and Barbara Nicklaus, who are always very involved in both the golf and the charity work during this event each year.
The tournament was The Honda Classic from 1982 to 2023, when Cognizant took over as the title sponsor. The Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches has crowned two champions since the name change. Austin Eckroat won in 2024 by three strokes over Min Woo Lee and Erik van Rooyen, and last year, Joe Highsmith won by two strokes over U.S. Open champ J.J. Spaun and last week’s breakthrough winner Jacob Bridgeman. Other recent winners at this event include Russell Henley, Adam Scott, Justin Thomas, Sepp Straka, Chris Kirk, and Keith Mitchell.
This week’s field doesn’t have quite as much star power, especially after Monday’s withdrawals of Scott, Bridgeman, Patrick Rodgers, and Ben Grevvin. However, some interesting names and storylines are still in the field, including Brooks Koepka, continuing his comeback to the PGA TOUR. Highsmith is back to defend his title, while Ryan Gerard is the top-ranked golfer in the FedExCup standings and the Official World Golf Rankings. Some other familiar names include new betting favorite Shane Lowry, Max Homa, Michael Thorbjornsen, Billy Horschel, and Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard.
Check out the full field and opening odds on DraftKings Sportsbook.
A Closer Look at the Course
This week’s course is a stark contrast to the courses the PGA TOUR has played over the last few weeks. Not only are the greens Bermuda grass instead of Poa Annua, but this course has water in play on 15 of the 18 holes. Last week at Riviera, there was no water in play at all.
This year will mark the 20th anniversary of the tournament at PGA National. Scoring was typically around 10-under until two years ago, when the par was adjusted from 70 to 71. The 10th hole went from a hard par-4 to a scorable par-5; it should still be this year, even though it has been lengthened a little bit. The other major change was that the course started overseeding fairways and rough with rye grass, which replaced the dormant Bermuda grass and made the fairways and rough more receptive.
The course sets up a boom-or-bust nature due to so much water, allowing longshots to often emerge as the winners if they can keep their ball dry. The water is in play throughout the entire round, but especially in the three-hole stretch of the “Bear Trap,” comprising holes 15, 16, and 17. The par-10 stretch consists of two par-3’s played over water at No. 15 and No. 17, sandwiched around the par-4 No. 16, another layup to an approach shot over water.
Here’s a refresher of what the course looks like, and here are the highlights from last year. If you’re a fan of watching PGA TOUR pros look like regular players, check out this Golf is Hard edition from The Bear Trap.
Avoiding the water is obviously key, so iron play is paramount. As usual, Strokes Gained: Approach is a great stat to lean on, while Bogey/Double Bogey Avoidance and Par 4 BoB% are also important numbers to check. It’s also definitely important to notice that the greens are Bermuda this week, so Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermuda) are key after spending the last several weeks out West, putting mostly on Poa annua greens.
Stay tuned to DK Network all week as we run down our top picks and best bets for this week’s event!
