The Florida Swing tees off the March PGA Tour schedule with the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches. First-year tournament sponsor Cognizant, an IT services company, replaces Honda with the multinational conglomerate automobile manufacturer discontinuing a 40+ year association with the PGA Tour.
The 144 player field includes 19 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings led by No. 2 Rory McIlroy. The 34-year-old Irishman won the 2012 Honda Classic, but has not played in the event since 2018. That despite living less than 10 miles from the Jack Nicklaus-designed Champion Course at PGA National in a massive mansion at The Bear’s Club – a golf development which was founded by Jack Nicklaus in 1999 and is 85 miles north of Miami.
While bettors will line up on McIlroy as the favorite this week, 12 other top-40 players will take aim on the 7,145 yard Par 71 course that has seen the tough 10th hole changed from a Par 4 to a 528-yard Par 5. That includes last year’s Honda winner Chris Kirk, who won in a playoff over PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Eric Cole after each finished 14-under par.
Tricky South Florida winds can constantly cause havoc as players navigate the tighter landing areas off the tee and seemingly tranquil water penalty areas throughout the course. That includes at The Bear Trap closing holes at 15, 16 and 17 – the fourth toughest three-hole stretch on the PGA Tour.
Golf Odds to Win The Cognizant Classic
Leading favorites and contenders golf odds from FanDuel refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting. Odds posted by leading online sportsbooks on Monday.
All times Eastern. Tournament Feb. 29-March 3
- Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock)
- Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (GC/Peacock), 3-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)
Golf Picks, Props and Stats
Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka both have a pair of top-5 finishes the last two years in the event with Straka winning in 2022 and Lowry runner-up. Straka won at odds of 240/1, and 2019 winner Keith Mitchell won at odds of 100/1 or better. Consider them at lower odds knowing too that Straka leads this field in Strokes Gained: Total over the last five years with 18 rounds played at PGA National. He’s actually co-leader with Daniel Berger, who has a pair of top-5 finishes in the event. Shane Lowery ranks 3rd and fellow veterans Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose rank 5th and 6th in total strokes gained with Fowler No. 3 in the field in SG: Putting at PGA National. Denny McCarthy is No. 5 in putting with Mitchell, Berger and Rose top-10.
Berger and Fowler also rank No. 1-2 in SG: Par 3 scoring at PGA National with McCarthy and Rose also top-10.
Sungjae Im and Rory McIlroy are the Par 4 scoring leaders at PGA National, and all the Par 4 and Par 3 holes have a scoring average of Even par or worse. The Par 3’s add to the difficult approach and scoring with PGA National being the most difficult course on Tour for approaches from beyond 150 yards. The two Par 3’s at the Bear Trap on holes 15 and 17 rank top-5 most difficult in scoring on the course behind the tough Par 4’s at No. 6, 10 and 11.
Larger bermuda greens were redesigned by Nicklaus in 2019, and since then players have hit the Greens in Regulation at a 61% rate – below the PGA Tour average of 65.7% over the past five years.
Along with Kirk, Straka, Berger, Lowery and Mitchell, other players in the field that have multiple top-15 finishes at PGA National include 2020 winner Sungjae Im, Russell Henley, Gary Woodland, Byeong Hun An, Mark Hubbard, Lee Hodges and Sam Ryder.
All that noted, the players that can control their ball flight and hit more greens and closer to the flag from 125-200 yards are going to push towards the leaderboard as they generate more scoring chances this week.
This week’s Cognizant Classic model feature is from the Tour Junkies. These players rate highly with the Bet The Number golf analytics platform model ranking more importance in SG: Approach (125-200), Around the Green and Putting (4-10 feet).
- Adam Svensson
- J.T. Poston
- Tom Hoge
- Sepp Straka
- Michael Kim
- Daniel Berger
Svensson finished top-10 in this event in 2022, and also enters off a top-10 at The Genesis Invitational. J.T. Poston has four top-11 finishes already this year, but he doesn’t play too well in the wind. So keep that in mind as you navigate your golf picks and watch the weather with a 40% chance of rain and increased winds 15+ mph over the weekend in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.
Hoge has missed the cut in 4-of-5 starts at PGA National despite strong overall Approach stats leading this field over his last 24 rounds. He hasn’t transfered that to this course with the winds and water causing concerns and his aggressive iron play. But Hoge is playing well this year with three straight top-20 finishes including a pair of top-10’s in the Genesis and Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Sepp Straka won here in 2022 and T5 last year, but he’s missed the cut in two of his last three starts this year with poor approach and around the green play. Daniel Berger lives in nearby Jupiter, and has played well at PGA National with three top-5 finishes including two in his most recent starts. His approach stats on difficult courses ranks highly in this field.
Tournament Matchups
We’ll update more golf betting odds and tournament matchups as posted from FanDuel Sportsbook following last week’s betting winner in the Mexico Open. More chip-ins and picks, win simulations and stats from FanDuel Research with additional information you can bet on by Tuesday as well.
Types of bets and how to read the odds
- Winner: Bet on who will win this week’s PGA tour event
- Finishing Position Odds: Bet on a golfer to finish in the top 5, top 10, top 20 or top 40 in this week’s golf tournament
- Round Leader Betting: Golf odds on who will win the first round, second round, third round, and fourth round separately.
- Golf Matchup Betting: Prop bets on which golfer will finish better in the tournament head to head between the two golfers listed for each matchup.
- Live Betting: Bets placed during a sporting event as odds change.
Check out more golf stats and coverage of the Cognizant Classic and weekly PGA Tour events along with how golf courses are leading the way in technology and sustainability. And the top online sportsbooks are leading the way in wagering options as betting on golf continues to be most popular with fans firing for more fairways and greens.
You can bet on it.