Weekly Fantasy Golf Preview: Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches

Cognizant Classic

PGA National - Champion Course
Palm Beach Gardens, FL

The PGA Tour heads to Florida for another edition of the Cognizant Classic.

Chris Gotterup, Ben Griffin and Jacob Bridgeman. Beyond the obvious, this is what separates the PGA Tour from LIV Golf. These are guys that came out of nowhere and are now top-20 golfers in the world. These aren't flashes in the pan or one hit wonders, these are now established players on the PGA Tour, guys that can win signature events and take down the best players in the world. Here's the thing though, and what makes the PGA Tour so difficult, there are more of these guys lurking in the shadows, we just don't know which ones will pop up next. There are so many golfers who get a shot on the PGA Tour, but a handful are bound to sprout each year, many not to this level, but you get the point.

Now, some would say that the opportunity to sprout is less than is used to be and I have to agree with that, but then you take a look at this week's event. Sure, it's not a high profile event and there aren't many big names in the field, but that's where the opportunity lies for the next Bridgeman. Play well this week and that opens another door, string together a couple top-10s, another door, pretty soon you've got a crack at a signature event and if things go well that week, then you're on your way. It's not easy, nothing is guaranteed, but if you play well in the right spots, you can climb the ladder. Yes, the deck is stacked against the "little guy" in some ways, but there is a path.

Okay, enough of the pep talk to the lesser-known guys on the PGA Tour, let's talk Scottie Scheffler. For the third consecutive week, he got off to a bad start. At this point, there's something there. Whether it's his routine, his mentality, or something else, there's something different about opening rounds for Scheffler lately. I expect that his team will be looking over everything they do in the lead up to the opening rounds and maybe they'll spot something they're doing differently. Prior to this past week, I was okay with the random theory, that it was just two bad rounds that happened to be on Thursday, but after three, I think something is up.

As for this week, and I alluded to it earlier, the field is very thin, but that's to be expected after consecutive Signature Events. I'm still not sure why they schedule Signature Events in consecutive weeks or directly after a major. It seems like it would be more effective to spread them out, but then again, as long as you have two Signature Events in the three week span, the third event, the non-signature event, is always going to suffer.  

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LAST YEAR

Joe Highsmith shot a final round 64 on his way to a one-stroke victory over Jacob Bridgeman.

FAVORITES

All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook as of 2:30 PM ET Tuesday.

Ryan Gerard (14-1)

Gerard had a breakthrough 2025 season and he's off to a great start in 2026, but it's simply too early to have him slotted in as the favorite. With that said, there aren't a lot of contenders that could take this spot away from him, but regardless, I don't think Gerard should be in this spot. Now, you may say, why does it matter? Trust me, the golfers are aware of things like this and being the favorite just adds more pressure. I like Gerard's prospects this season and his track record here is good (top-25s in both starts), but things change when you're expected to play well and I think Gerard might fall victim to that this week. There's just not enough value here.

Shane Lowry (16-1) 

Two late WDs have pushed Lowry to the second-lowest odds of the week. Make no mistake, Lowry is a justified favorite this week. Lowry faded a bit towards the end of the 2025 season, but he posted a top-10 at Pebble Beach two weeks ago and he managed a top 25 this past week at the Genesis. Okay, so his form isn't great entering this week, but it's not terrible either and his track record here is very solid, so perhaps a return to PGA National will kick his game into high gear. Lowry is 8/8 in cuts made at this event and he's landed in the top 5 here in three of his past four starts.

Nicolai Hojgaard (19-1)

To this point in his career, Hojgaard has had much more success overseas than he had in this country, but he's starting to gain some traction on the PGA Tour. He's landed in the Top 100 in each of his past two seasons on the PGA Tour, but I'm sure his sites are set higher this season. He's off to a good start already, with a T3 at the WM Phoenix Open a few weeks ago and now he has another shot against a weaker field to step up. Hojgaard fits the mold of the guys I mentioned in the open, and with another good showing this week, he'll be even closer to the Signature Events. Hojgaard has just two starts here, but he did finish inside the top-20 at this event last year.

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THE NEXT TIER

Michael Thorbjornsen (22-1)     

Thorbjornsen finished this past season on a roll, and he's carried that over to this season. He did crash out a bit at Pebble Beach, finishing 78th, but that was due to a major problem on the greens as he finished dead last in SG: Putting for the week. Prior to that, however, Thorbjornsen finished in the top-20 at the Farmers and T3 at the WM Phoenix Open. The question this week will be if he's put his putting woes behind him. Considering he's had two weeks off and he's never really relied on his putter, I think he'll be okay. When the rest of your game is solid, you can get bye with a balky putter from time to time. A slight improvement on the greens could have a huge impact.

Keith Mitchell (27-1)

Keeping with the theme of this week's article. Mitchell was one of the guys that came out of nowhere and had a lot of success early in this career. It didn't quite pan out like a lot of us expected, but nonetheless, he's had a lot of success over the past decade. This isn't to say that Mitchell's career is done, but he's never quite taken the next step. He still has time, but in order to take the next step, he needs to take advantage of opportunities like this. Why this week? Well, this is the site of his only win on the PGA Tour in 2019. Since then, he's carded two top-10s in five starts at this event. His form hasn't been great this season, but he's yet to miss a cut in five tries.  

Daniel Berger (30-1)

Berger is not off to a great start this season and I wonder if that has anything to do with how much he put into 2025. If you recall, Berger was battling back from injury late in 2024 and 2025 was the season that he was going to finally be healthy. He exceeded expectations this past season, landing in the Top 50 as season's end and earning over $4 million, but the momentum has not carried over to this season. He did post a top 10 at the Sony and a top 20 at the WM, but more was expected of Berger this season. So why take him this week? Well, Berger is right up there with the best players in the field when you look at talent. He's played with and beat the best, and while he might not be the top-20 player he was a five years ago at the moment, I don't think that guy is gone. When he was healthy and at the top of his game, he played well at this event. His two best showings came in 2020 and 2022 where he finished in 4th-place each year.   

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LONG SHOTS

S.H. Kim (80-1)

He doesn't have a win on the PGA Tour, but he did finish inside the top-50 at season's end just two years ago, so we know he's got some game. After a lost 2025 season, Kim has returned with some fire, carding top-20s in two of his first four starts. He faded a bit in his two most recent starts, but that was to be expected after playing four consecutive weeks. He played only two times on the PGA Tour in 2025, so four starts in four weeks must be a bit taxing. He's had a couple weeks off though and should come back recharged. Kim doesn't have much of a track record here, but he has made the cut in both of his starts.

Davis Riley (100-1)        

When we have a field like this, the longshots are really going to be reaches, and while Riley isn't your typical longshot (he's finished each of the past four seasons inside the Top 75 in the FedExCup) his game has resembled one lately. I'm not quite sure what's going on with Riley so far this season as he's missed two cuts in four starts and was a non-factor in another, but he's got too much talent to continue to play this way. He did post a top-10 at the Sony Open in January, so we know there is still some game there, but he has to figure out how to tap into it. If he wins this week, it will be one of those "out of nowhere" deals, so this isn't one of those, "I have a feeling" vibes, it's more of a, "he's due" situation for me this week. No, I'm not getting paid by the quotation mark this week, I just got on a roll there.

ONE-AND-DONE LEAGUES

Highly-Chosen Pick: Shane Lowry – There are really only two reasons to not take Lowry this week. One, you want to save him for later in the season or two, you don't want to take the most popular play. Either reason is justifiable but realize that if you don't take him this week, you could be staring up at the pack come Monday. The one thing that might be working against Lowry is the lack of star power in the field. Lowry generally only plays against the best fields on the PGA Tour, so either he'll see this as an opportunity against a weaker field or he'll lack focus. Again, it seems like a reach that he'd lack focus because of the strength of the field, but if he falters, that could explain it.      

Moderately-Chosen Pick: Brooks Koepka – It's rare that a golfer first shows up in this section without a mention above, but I'm just not sure of where Koepka's game is right now. That, however, will not stop the OAD players from using him in a spot like this. Koepka is trying to work his way into the signature events and in order to do so, he'll need to get something done in events like this. Koepka obviously hasn't played this event in a while, but he did finish runner-up here in 2019 and T16 in his most recent start at this event in 2022. He knows this course, but is his game where it needs to be right now?   

Lightly-Chosen Pick: S.H. Kim – This feels like a bit of a reach, but let's start with this, if you take him, you'll be the only one with him this week, so if he plays well, you'll make a move. After that, you've got his performance so far this season. Yes, he hit a bit of a wall recently, but again, that was likely due to all the golf he played in a short span after not playing competitive golf much for an entire year. I'm looking at his two top-20s earlier in the year as something he could replicate here.           

Buyer Beware: Max Homa – I know we're all waiting for the return of Homa and I for one have not given up on him, but this doesn't seem like the spot where he's going to find his game. Homa did post a top-20 here, but that was seven years ago. After that top-20, he never returned, which leads me to believe he's not a big fan of this course, which is never good. In addition to the lack of course history, Homa's form is not great entering this week either. Homa has just one top-30 in four starts and three of those starts were in California, where he usually thrives.  

My Pick: Michael Thorbjornsen – Lowry is the easy pick as well as the safe pick, and heck, maybe the smart pick, but I've been taking a lot of popular plays this season and I think it's time to break away a bit. Thorbjornsen might be a popular play as well this week, but he should be nowhere near as popular as Lowry. Thorbjornsen is off to a good start this year and he's still on the way up, so I think this is a great spot to make a move towards entrance to the signature events. He'll need to get his putter figured out, but his ball striking is so solid that only a slight improvement on the greens is needed to contend this week.

Previous Results

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FANDUEL PICKS

Upper Range: Michael Thorbjornsen ($11,100)
Middle Range: Daniel Berger ($10,700)
Lower Range: S.H. Kim ($8,500)

SURVIVOR LEAGUES

My Pick: Shane Lowry – I'm staying away from Lowry in the OAD format, but I'll play it safe here and take him in this format. Lowry not only has a lot of high-end finishes at this event, but he's also never missed a cut. He's 8/8 in cuts made at this event and the only way he misses the cut this week is if he comes in with a lack of focus, which is always a concern when there aren't many big names in the field, but I think he'll be ready to go.   

Previous Results