⛳ Cognizant Classic Picks & Predictions: Gerard, Lowry, Koepka Favorites at Palm Beaches
Shane Lowry and Ryan Gerard lead a 122-man PGA Tour field to PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., but are they among my best Cognizant Classic picks and predictions?
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are taking a week off, while Brooks Koepka will play his third tournament of the season near his hometown. Who should you pick this week? Let's dig in.
🔥 Cognizant Classic picks: Tournament best bets
Here are my best golf picks to win the 2026 Cognizant Classic as of Monday morning:
Top 5 finish: Shane Lowry (+360)
Lowry lives in nearby Palm Beach Gardens and treats PGA National like his home course. He's in incredible form at this tournament, too, finishing T-11 or better in four consecutive appearances at the Cognizant Classic. This includes a runner-up finish in 2022, when he lost by a single stroke, and a T-4 in 2024.
Over the last five years, Lowry ranks No. 1 in the field in strokes gained here, which should give you enough confidence to back him to finish top five.
Top 5 finish: Brooks Koepka (+750)
Koepka is a West Palm Beach native who practices at PGA National regularly. This isn't just another stop for him; it's a home-court advantage. After the high-stress media scrutiny of his January return at Torrey Pines, being back in Florida with local support should help him find the mental flow state that usually leads to his wins. Back him to finish top five and be rewarded in a few days' time as part of our best Brooks Koepka bets for the Cognizant Classic.
Top rest of world player: Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+700)
Bezuidenhout's surgical short game and elite scrambling are perfectly suited for the punishing "Bear Trap" layout of PGA National. Currently ranking 10th on the PGA TOUR in strokes gained: putting and 16th in strokes gained: around-the-green, the South African excels on difficult courses where par is a great score and avoiding the dreaded three-putt is critical.
💰Cognizant Classic sleeper pick
Ryan Gerard (+2700 ➡️ +1600)
Ryan Gerard enters the week at No. 26 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). He finished T-45 or better in each of his five events to start the season, with two runner-up finishes to date. He's gaining strokes in all key metrics, except around the green (and that won't be punished at PGA National). He's above average in both driving distance and accuracy, and he's been one of the better putters on Tour so far this season.
Gerard is also fifth on the PGA Tour in proximity to the pin from 150-175 yards, with his 52 such approach shots more than double anyone ranked ahead of him. A winning $10 bet on Gerard to win the Cognizant Classic would return a profit of $270.
Aaron Rai (+3300)
Rai currently ranks as the fourth-highest-ranked player in the tournament (OWGR), yet he's being priced outside the top 10 favorites following a late-round slide at last week's Genesis Invitational. That bad finish is a gift for bettors, as it masks the fact he was in fourth place entering Sunday at Riviera and is only a few months removed from a playoff victory over Tommy Fleetwood in Abu Dhabi. With top favorites like Ben Griffin and Jacob Bridgeman withdrawing from the event, Rai is a strong play to secure his second PGA TOUR victory at a discount.
Our LJ Blut breaks down his top sleeper picks in his Cognizant Classic long shot and sleeper picks.
🎟️ Cognizant Classic betting information
Who's controlling the percentage of handle and bets? Ticket info courtesy of BetMGM:
| Category | Player | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Most Tickets | Shane Lowry | 6.9% |
| Most Tickets | Brooks Koepka | 6.3% |
| Most Tickets | Ryan Gerard | 6.0% |
| Most Handle | Brooks Koepka | 10.9% |
| Most Handle | Shane Lowry | 8.3% |
| Most Handle | Ryan Gerard | 6.9% |
| Biggest Liability | Brooks Koepka | — |
| Biggest Liability | Shane Lowry | — |
| Biggest Liability | Johnny Keefer | — |
🕰️ Cognizant Classic tee times - Round 1
Return once tee times are available - we'll have everything you need right here.
| Time (EST) | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6:45 AM | Taylor Moore | Harry Higgs | Hank Lebioda |
| 6:45 AM | Austin Eckroat | Danny Willett | Beau Hossler |
| 6:57 AM | Matthieu Pavon | Adam Hadwin | Doug Ghim |
| 6:57 AM | Camilo Villegas | Joel Dahmen | Sam Ryder |
| 7:09 AM | Lee Hodges | Matt Wallace | Mac Meissner |
| 7:09 AM | Adam Svensson | Rico Hoey | Max McGreevy |
| 7:21 AM | Brendon Todd | Kevin Streelman | Vince Whaley |
| 7:21 AM | Aaron Rai | Shane Lowry | Billy Horschel |
| 7:33 AM | Steven Fisk | Nico Echavarria | Kevin Yu |
| 7:33 AM | Garrick Higgo | Karl Vilips | Davis Riley |
| 7:45 AM | Davis Thompson | Stephan Jaeger | Webb Simpson |
| 7:45 AM | Joe Highsmith | Chris Kirk | Keith Mitchell |
| 7:57 AM | Nick Dunlap | K.H. Lee | Chad Ramey |
| 7:57 AM | Rafael Campos | Nicolai Højgaard | S.H. Kim |
| 8:09 AM | Adrien Saddier | Paul Waring | Christo Lamprecht |
| 8:09 AM | Jackson Suber | Johnny Keefer | Blades Brown |
| 8:21 AM | Jimmy Stanger | Neal Shipley | Jeffrey Kang |
| 8:21 AM | Ricky Castillo | Adrien Dumont de Chassart | Keita Nakajima |
| 8:33 AM | Austin Smotherman | Jordan Smith | Chandler Blanchet |
| 8:33 AM | Patrick Fishburn | Zach Bauchou | Sudarshan Yellamaraju |
| 11:35 AM | Mark Hubbard | Eric Cole | Alex Smalley |
| 11:35 AM | Erik van Rooyen | Justin Lower | Carson Young |
| 11:47 AM | Gary Woodland | Brandt Snedeker | David Lipsky |
| 11:47 AM | Peter Malnati | Brice Garnett | Lanto Griffin |
| 11:59 AM | Emiliano Grillo | Kevin Roy | Danny Walker |
| 11:59 AM | Matti Schmid | Dylan Wu | Takumi Kanaya |
| 12:11 PM | Michael Brennan | Ryan Gerard | Max Homa |
| 12:11 PM | Adam Schenk | William Mouw | Aaron Wise |
| 12:23 PM | Brooks Koepka | Will Zalatoris | Daniel Berger |
| 12:23 PM | Sami Valimaki | Cam Davis | Matt Kuchar |
| 12:35 PM | Tom Kim | Michael Thorbjornsen | Rasmus Højgaard |
| 12:35 PM | Mackenzie Hughes | Thorbjørn Olesen | Chandler Phillips |
| 12:47 PM | Patton Kizzire | Andrew Putnam | Kristoffer Reitan |
| 12:47 PM | Seamus Power | Charley Hoffman | Christiaan Bezuidenhout |
| 12:59 PM | Haotong Li | Marcelo Rozo | Davis Chatfield |
| 12:59 PM | Kris Ventura | Dan Brown | Pontus Nyholm |
| 1:11 PM | Jesper Svensson | Kensei Hirata | Luke Clanton |
| 1:11 PM | Alejandro Tosti | Frankie Capan III | John VanDerLaan |
| 1:23 PM | Isaiah Salinda | Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen | A.J. Ewart |
| 1:23 PM | Chan Kim | John Parry | Gordon Sargent |
| 1:35 PM | Zecheng Dou | David Ford | Justin Hicks |
🏆 Cognizant Classic outright odds: Favorites
Here are the betting favorites to win this week's Cognizant Classic, with odds via DraftKings. Top finish odds include ties. For the full-field odds from our best golf betting sites, scroll further down.
| Player | To Win | Top 5 | Top 10 | OGWR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Gerard | +1600 | +340 | +180 | No. 26 |
| Shane Lowry | +1400 | +405 | +200 | No. 31 |
| Rasmus Hojgaard | +2200 | +465 | +230 | No. 48 |
| Nicolai Hojgaard | +2200 | +500 | +270 | No. 55 |
| Michael Thorbjornsen | +2200 | +550 | +290 | No. 50 |
⭐ Brooks Koepka's Cognizant Classic predictions
Brooks Koepka is the biggest star in this week's field following the consecutive Signature Events. This tournament was a bit of a surprise early playing commitment for him, shortly after his return to the PGA Tour was announced. It's his third event of the season, after he finished T-56 in the Farmers Insurance Open and missed the cut in the WM Phoenix Open.
Koepka's odds to win this week are as high as +5000. DraftKings has him at a much shorter +3400, returning a profit of $340 on a winning $10 outright bet. A top-10 finish can be bet at +350 for a profit of $35 on a $10 bet.
💡 How I'm betting the Cognizant Classic
The Cognizant Classic (formerly the Honda Classic) has been one of my favorite tournaments to bet throughout the years. I enjoy PGA National on television. This tournament follows consecutive Signature Events on the PGA Tour schedule, which offers a reprieve from the Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy-skewed betting lines. We've seen long shots have tremendous success in the outright betting market in recent years as a result.
Three of the past four champions had pre-tournament odds of 100-1 or longer. As such, I go a little heavier on long shots this week, both in outright bets and top finishes (top 20-40).
I lean heavily into strokes gained: approach at PGA National and value with the best ball strikers and iron players above all else. I also don't put as much weight on course history in this tournament as most others on the PGA Tour. The past two champions of the Cognizant Classic won the event after missing the cut the year before.
Course info
PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens has hosted the PGA Tour annually since 2007. This tournament has been played under the Cognizant Classic banner since 2024 and was previously known as the Honda Classic from 2002 to 2023.
The course (a modest 7,223 yards) used to favor distance off the tee, but recent tournaments have seen a shift toward accuracy being the statistic more predictive of success at PGA National. Winning scores have also gotten considerably lower in recent years, with each of the past three winners finishing -14 or better.
The Bermuda greens are large but very fast, still emphasizing strokes gained: approach, especially from the most common range of 150-175 yards.
The course profiles similarly to several links-style courses. A hot week on the putting surfaces can make all the difference.
Here are the course stats for PGA National:
| PGA National (Champion Course) | |
|---|---|
| Par | 71 |
| Yardage | 7,223 |
| Greens | Bermuda |
| Architect | Tom and Geroge Fazio (Jack Nicklaus redesign) |
| Comparable courses | Carnoustie, Baltusrol, Castle Pines |
Key stats
Here are the key stats I use to handicap The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, and the weight I give to each stat:
- Strokes gained: approach (40%)
- Birdie or better percentage (30%)
- Proximity from 150-175 yards (20%)
- Strokes gained: off-the-tee (10%)
📊 Full-field Cognizant Classic odds
Live Cognizant Classic odds update in real time.
⛳ Cognizant Classic tournament info
- Where: PGA National (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.)
- When: Thursday, Feb. 26 - Sunday, March 1
- Field: 122
- Cut: 36 holes (top 68 and ties)
- Favorite: Ryan Gerard (+1400 via DraftKings)
- Defending champion: Joe Highsmith
- Purse: $9.6 million
- FedEx Cup points: 500
📜 Cognizant Classic betting history
Here are the recent winners of the Cognizant Classic at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Historical golf odds via GolfOdds.com:
| Year | Winner | Score to par | Odds (prior to Round 1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Joe Highsmith | -19 | +10000 |
| 2024 | Austin Eckroat | -17 | +10000 |
| 2023 | Chris Kirk | -14 (playoff) | +3000 |
| 2022 | Sepp Straka | -10 | +12500 |
| 2021 | Matt Jones | -6 | +8000 |
| 2020 | Sungjae Im | -11 | +3000 |
| 2019 | Keith Mitchell | -9 | +1000 (field) |
| 2018 | Justin Thomas | -8 (playoff) | +1000 |
| 2017 | Rickie Fowler | -12 | +1500 |
| 2016 | Adam Scott | -9 | +2000 |
❓ Cognizant Classic FAQs
Who is favored to win the Cognizant Classic?
Ryan Gerard is the betting favorite by the Cognizant Classic odds. His +1400 odds to win via DraftKings represent an implied win probability of 7.56%.
Who won the Cognizant Classic last year?
Joe Highsmith won last year's Cognizant Classic at the Palm Beaches, claiming the $1.656 million first-place prize.
Where is the Cognizant Classic?
The Cognizant Classic is played at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
When is the Cognizant Classic?
The 2026 Cognizant Classic will be played from Thursday, Feb. 26 through Sunday, March 1.
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