Just two weeks remain until THE PLAYERS Championship — the PGA TOUR’s flagship event and arguably its “fifth major” — and The Masters Tournament is only six weeks away. The PGA TOUR season’s California swing has concluded, and now the Florida swing will begin. The four Florida tournaments will tee off tomorrow, as The Cognizant Classic, formerly known as the Honda Classic, will be played at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens.
The Cognizant Classic counts an illustrious group of winners in its history, including major champions Justin Thomas, Adam Scott, and Rory McIlroy, although it is one of the events that Tiger Woods has played and never won. Because next weekend’s Arnold Palmer Invitational is one of the PGA TOUR’s eight signature events, the highest-ranked player in this week’s field is Russell Henry, who’s No. 17 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
DraftKings Sportsbook is offering plenty of prop bets for all the players in the field, but I’m going to go with a non-winner who’s made quite the comeback in the last couple of seasons.
Best Daniel Berger Prop Bet on DraftKings Sportsbook
Daniel Berger Top 20 (+125)
The 31-year-old Berger, who lives in Plantation, just an hour’s drive to the south, has represented the United States in international competition twice, but after a debilitating back injury that saw him miss 18 months between the 2022 U.S. Open and the 2024 American Express. During that span, he dropped from 19th to 664th in the world; now, he’s back up to 52nd. Although he hasn’t yet won in his remarkable comeback, he finished in a tie for second at The RSM Classic in November and again at the WM Phoenix Open three weeks ago. With another strong finish, Berger could easily climb into the world’s top 50, which would qualify him for The Masters Tournament for the first time since 2022.
Like most Florida courses, the challenges at PGA National lie mostly between the tee and the green, with water in play on all but three holes. According to Data Golf, PGA National is one of the TOUR’s off the tee and on approaches to the green but easier than average around the green and on the surface itself. Throughout his career, Berger has always excelled from tee to green; this season, he ranks 19th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 34th in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, 28th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, and 93rd in Strokes Gained: Putting, the latter of which is his only below-average trait.
Plus, Berger simply seems to love the course. In 2015, it was the site of his first-ever top-five finish, as he lost narrowly in a playoff to Padraig Harrington, and he has gone on to record two more top-five finishes in eight total appearances at the tournament. He’s also in excellent form, having finished in the top 20 in each of his last two events.
