This article is part of our FanDuel PGA DFS Picks series.
Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches
Course: PGA National Champion Course (7,223 yards, par 71)
Purse: $9,600,000
Winner: $1,728,000 and 500 FedExCup Points
Tournament Preview
One of the biggest talking points over the last few months is what the PGA Tour will look like in 2027 and going forward. New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has been aggressive thus far and has shown that he really wants to put his stamp on what the future of the PGA Tour looks like. Tiger Woods even talked about it some last week both turning his time in the media center and his TV appearance in the CBS broadcast booth at The Genesis Invitational.
That brings us right to this week. This is what the PGA Tour will be trying very hard to avoid with the schedule starting in 2027. Tournaments where there are zero top-25 players in the OWGR teeing it up. It's not really the Cognizant Classic's fault. It is sandwiched by two West Coast Signature Events and a Florida Signature event plus THE PLAYERS Championship. Despite the fact that many of the PGA Tour's best reside in the Palm Beach area, this is a pretty easy skip given all the other more consequential golf in this window of time.
Scarcity and "Owning the Summer" have been high on Rolapp's priority list for the new PGA Tour schedule. Most of the other rumors also involve starting the season after the Super Bowl and moving some iconic West Coast courses to the FedExCup Playoffs eventually. The idea is that less events and some built in off weeks after majors and other high-stress stretches of golf will make each tournament mean more. Signature Events are likely to go away as well, and every tournament is expected to be open to players will full status. With less events and all of them being worth the same, the thought is that the top players will be forced to play nearly every event to stay atop the standings.
While those changes in theory make a lot of sense from a growth perspective, it does leaves a lot of questions about what events will end up getting cut from the new schedule. A lot of that will likely have to do with contracts. A number of name sponsors are have their contracts due up at the end of this year or 2027. Those events will likely be the ones that the PGA Tour looks to move on from to create either an off week or a new event at a course in a bigger market.
There was a time where the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches was facing major questions as to whether it would remain on the schedule. From 1982-2023 this event had sponsorship from Honda. That was a big hit to the PGA Tour with Honda deciding to pull out. Thankfully Cognizant stepped in and signed a six-year deal to be the title sponsor of this event starting in 2024.
2026 marks the 19th straight year this event will be contested at the Champion Course at PGA National. This has been one of the most challenging courses on the PGA Tour since it became a regular stop, although the last couple years the setup has been a little easier. The thought was many players didn't want to play this tournament because it was too much of a bear (no pun intended), but after Austin Eckroat won at 17-under in 2024 and Joe Highsmith won at 19-under last year, it appears the reason the top players aren't adding this to their schedule simply comes down to the events right around it. For reference from 2007-22 the best 72-hole score shot by any player at PGA National was Camilo Villegas in 2010 when he shot 13-under-par and won by five strokes over Anthony Kim.
Weather is always a talking point coming into this event. There's one thing you can count on for the Palm Beach area this time of year, it's going to be breezy. Those wind gusts will strike fear in players around a place like this, especially given all the danger that awaits at "The Bear Trap" on holes 15-17. After a beautiful day on Thursday, we have pretty solid chances to see some thunderstorms at some point during the final three rounds. We probably have to expect a delay at some point, but hopefully we can get 72 holes completed by Sunday night. The rain will likely make the greens more receptive than usual and another winning score in the high-teen's seem reasonable.
Monday was a tough day for this week's Cognizant Classic. It received a number of withdraws from some of the highest ranked players in the field like Ben Griffin, Adam Scott and last week's winner Jacob Bridgeman. Now Ryan Gerard is the top-ranked player in the OWGR at No. 26. Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, the Hojgaards, Michael Thorbjornsen, Daniel Berger and Billy Horschel round out most of the other notables. 18-year-old Blades Brown also received a sponsor's exemption.
Recent Champions
2025 - Joe Highsmith (-19)
2024 - Austin Eckroat (-17)
2023 - Chris Kirk (-14)
2022 - Sepp Straka (-10)
2021 - Matt Jones (-12)
2020 - Sungjae Im (-6)
2019 - Keith Mitchell (-9)
2018 - Justin Thomas (-8)
2017 - Rickie Fowler (-12)
2016 - Adam Scott (-9)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach/GIR Percentage
- SG: Putting/Putts per GIR
- SG: Around-the-Green
- Driving Accuracy/Approaches 150-200 Yards
Champion's Profile
Players will have to make a quick adjustment this week going from lots of Kikuyu and Poa annua grasses on the West Coast to courses in Florida that will be blanketed with Bermuda grass. The good news for the players is that PGA National will be once again overseeded, which will make things quite a bit easier. The PGA Tour decided to go with the overseed last year at PGA National for the first time instead of the traditional dormant bermuda. It made the course play a lot softer and the rough be far less penal. PGA National has also taken out bunkers and added significantly more fairway width over the past couple years. The course did add about 100 more yards on the card from last year, but the lush overseed is going to keep things pretty gettable. Jake Knapp shot an 11-under 59 in the first round last year. We'll have to wait and see how this year's conditions affect the scoring after a perfect weather week in 2025.
Safe to say approach play and scrambling will still be keys just like a week ago at Riviera. The average driving distance at PGA National is quite a bit lower than PGA Tour average, which will make a high proportion of the approaches come from that 150-200 yard range. With longer approaches into the greens that also typically means a lower GIR percentage for the field as a whole, which of course lends itself to more scrambling opportunities. These greens are well bunkered and can create tricky spots get the ball up-and-down from.
Putting will be hard to ignore as well. I'd look for players who putted well at The Amex or the WM Phoenix Open because both of those courses featured overseeded greens as well, rather than those who putted well on the Poa annua at Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach or Riviera. The softer course conditions should lend itself to having to make more mid-range putts to be in contention come Sunday afternoon.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Shane Lowry ($12,000)
Unlike DraftKings, FanDuel waited until after a host of the Monday withdraws to post their pricing, and we see Lowry lead the way at a pretty normal rate. He has a perfect 8-for-8 record at PGA National, with finishes of 2nd-T5-T4-T11 over the last four years. Lowry has averaged nearly 1.5 strokes gained per round on approach here during that stretch. The Irishman is also a proven wind player who is able to change trajectories to get the distance he wants. Lowry has gone T3-T26-T8-T24 through his first four starts in 2026.
Ryan Gerard ($11,800)
Gerard is usually not ever going to be this high on the board, but he is deserving of it given how well he has played of late and the fact that he is the top ranked player in this field. Gerard has three runner-ups and a T11 in his last six starts. He is also coming off a week at Riviera where he was fourth in SG: Approach and T7 in GIR's. Gerard has a solo fourth and a T25 in two previous starts at PGA National.
Nicolai Hojgaard ($11,600)
Hojgaard just missed qualifying for the last two Signature Events, but he is coming off a T3 at the WM Phoenix Open, another course that featured overseed. Prior to that the Dane went T22 at Torrey Pines and scored a T4 finish at the Rolex Series event in Dubai. Going back to last year Hojgaard has six finishes of T22 or better over his last seven starts. He'll have a lot more room to drive it with the wider and softer fairways, and he's been a very strong iron play for most of the last year. The putter is also coming around and Hojgaard finished T18 a year ago at PGA National.
The Middle Tier
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen ($10,400)
Another exciting Dane, Neergaard-Petersen's game is very similar to the Hojgaards. He is a very strong ball striker who is coming off a great 2025 campaign. Neergaard-Petersen racked up nine top-10s and 16 top-25 finishes in 2025, including a win at the Australian Open to secure a spot in the 2026 Masters. He can be streaky at times with the putter, but iron play importance and expected conditions should play into his favor.
Jordan Smith ($9,600)
Smith sets up very nicely for PGA National. The Englishman has played primarily on the DP World Tour for the last nine years and has been one of the best iron players that tour has to offer over that time. Smith is also quite accurate off the tee as well. He is just getting his feet wet as a PGA Tour rookie in 2026, but did have a solid T16 showing last time out at TPC Scottsdale where he had a very strong putting week. Smith is one to watch especially if the conditions get tricky.
John Parry ($9,300)
Parry is another veteran from the DP World Tour who figures to have a good chance at PGA National. It's tough to come out as a 39-year-old rookie on the PGA Tour and make your first four cuts to start the season, but that's exactly what the Englishman has done. Parry was one of the best iron players last year on the DP World Tour ranking fifth in SG: Approach, 12th in SG: Tee-to-Green and 18th in GIR percentage. He was also top 30 in SG: Around-the-Green and scrambling. Parry putted very well at Waialae and TPC Scottsdale this year.
The Long Shots
Billy Horschel ($8,600)
The return from hip surgery has been a bit of a struggle for the eight-time PGA Tour winner, but a return home to Florida should be the perfect spot for him to get back on track. Horschel made the cut in eight of his last nine trips to PGA National and owns five finishes of T16 or better over that stretch. In a field this weak, Horschel is definitely worth the gamble at this price.
Sam Ryder ($8,600)
Ryder checks in at the same price at Horschel and is another player with good course history. Ryder has made the cut in all five appearances and owns a pair of top-10s and a T21. He has putted very well over his career at this course and that's something he has excelled at over the last 12 months. It's very early this season, but Ryder does rank inside the top 5 on Tour in both SG: Approach and SG: Putting.
Zecheng Dou ($8,400)
Dou earned his card back for 2026 after a great year on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025. He racked up nine top-20 finishes, including a pair of runner-ups towards the end of last year. Dou has begun this campaign on the PGA Tour by making the cut in all four of his starts, including a T13 last time out at the WM Phoenix Open. He ranks 18th early in the season in SG: Approach after finishing 10th last season on the KFT in GIR percentage.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
There's always a mental change you have to make if you play DFS golf weekly. You're going to get tournaments like the last two Signature Events where a lot of these players were much cheaper than they appear at a weak field like this. But it's not necessarily about the price of the player as it is about the value he holds against the rest of the field. I'm really high on all those top-3 options and think any of them are fully capable of winning this week. I don't think this is the event where we want to get into the $7K range if we can help it. There's just too many dart throws and players lacking both form and course history. The good news is that I think there are a lot of quality options in the $8K and $9K ranges to help support taking one of those top options. Haotong Li ($9,700), Mac Meissner ($9,700), Johnny Keefer ($9,300), and Lee Hodges ($8,700) are a few other options not mentioned above to watch.
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