After an exciting start to the season in Hawaii and on the West Coast, the PGA TOUR is ready to tee it up for the first Florida event of the season at The Champion Course at PGA National. This will be the 20th straight year PGA National has hosted the Cognizant Classic, which was previously The Honda Classic. The famous “Bear Trap” is just part of the challenge with water in play on those three difficult holes and 15 of the 18 holes this week. If you’re looking to take on the volatile course for fantasy golf this week, one popular format to consider is cash games or double-up contests on DraftKings. If that’s the format you choose to play this week, my top fantasy golf cash game picks are Ryan Gerard ($9,700), Max McGreevy ($8,200) and John Keefer ($7,800).
Make sure to also check out my top-three pivot plays for tournament lineups at PGA National if you’re looking for some less popular, under-the-radar picks. Pivot plays for tournament lineups are usually more aggressive, while fantasy golf cash game picks are safer with higher floors and lower risk. The picks in this post generally have higher ownership than my pivot plays, but they are good selections for contests where the uniqueness of your lineup is less important. Think of cash game picks as lying back and playing a par 5 as it was designed, taking three shots before reaching the green, searching for a solid birdie. Tournament picks are like going driver off the deck to try to reach the green in two — more reward if it works, but much more risk as well.
These fantasy golf cash game picks are best used in “cash games,” which are contests that pay out to about the top half of entries. Typically, they are in the 50/50s & Double Ups or Head-to-Head sections of the DraftKings lobby.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR Single Entry $5 Double Up!
Ryan Gerard ($9,700)
Gerard is one of the biggest names left in the tournament after Ben Griffin, Jacob Bridgeman and Adam Scott withdrew on Monday. He is the only player inside the current top 30 in the FedExCup standings who is playing this week, and he has a good history at this track to go with his great momentum.
Gerard won last summer’s Barracuda Championship for his first PGA TOUR win and finished in the top 50 in the FedExCup Playoffs. Gerard also finished second at the Valero Texas Open before his win and added a runner-up finish at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in December on the DP World Tour.
After all that success in 2025, he started 2026 with back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Sony Open in Hawaii and The American Express. He added a T-11 at the Farmers Insurance Open, a T-45 at Pebble Beach, and a T-28 at The Genesis Invitational.
As long as he doesn’t have any issues with fatigue, he should be near the top of the leaderboard again this week at PGA National. He debuted as a rookie at this track in 2023, finishing fourth, four strokes behind Chris Kirk. He didn’t play the event in 2024 but posted a T-25 last year.
Gerard leads the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and Total Strokes Gained over the last 24 rounds, and the course fits his game very well. He is well-equipped to stay dry and go low this week as the core option in your fantasy golf cash plays.
Max McGreevy ($8,200)
McGreevy is another very solid play to consider this week. The 30-year-old Oklahoma native posted a T-4 at this event last year, and he got off to a fast start to this season after finishing No. 60 in the FedExCup Fall.
He made the cut in 18 of his 31 events last season with nine top-25 finishes. His best finish was his runner-up finish at The RSM Classic in the final event of the season, which was his third T-11 or better in his last four events.
This year, he missed the cut in Hawaii to open the year but posted three top-30 finishes in his next four events, including a strong T-29 at Pebble Beach two weeks ago. He did miss the cut last week at The Genesis Invitational, but he should be able to bounce back with a better result at PGA National this week.
McGreevy ranks third in the field in Total Strokes Gained over the last 36 rounds and sixth in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Throughout his career, Bermuda greens have been his best putting surface, so the move to Florida should give him a boost this week.
His strong overall game makes him a safe option in this week’s fantasy golf cash plays, and he brings good upside as well since he seems like he could be on the verge of his first PGA TOUR win.
John Keefer ($7,800)
Keefer is not nearly as established as McGreevy and Gerard, but the overall quality of his game is high enough to make him a good play this week. The PGA TOUR rookie got off to a strong start with four made cuts in four events before taking the last two weeks off. He finished T-61 in Hawaii, T-27 at The American Express, T-43 at the Farmers, and T-41 at the WM Phoenix Open.
The 25-year-old earned his membership for this year by finishing at the top of the Korn Ferry Tour standings last season. He had an impressive season on the KFT with wins at the Veritex Bank Championship and NV5 Invitational, and runner-up finishes at the Visit Knoxville Open and The Panama Championship. Overall, he posted nine top-10 finishes in 23 starts, earning honors as the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year.
In the early part of the season, Keefer has played very well Tee-to-Green but struggled putting. He ranks fifth in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and sixth in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green over the last 20 rounds. He also leads the entire field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in the last eight rounds.
Keefer’s great tee-to-green skill makes him a relatively safe option under $8,000, and it could lead to big finishes if he can flip his putter on Bermuda greens in the coming weeks. This will be his tournament debut, but his game is strong enough to trust even in these volatile conditions.
