Horses for Courses: Tee-to-Green maestros set to shine at Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches

When it comes to the Champion Course at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, the horses for the course are generally Tee-to-Green aficionados.

Serving as tournament host for the 19th consecutive year, the course famously has the Bear Trap waiting down the stretch and 15 of 18 holes with water in play. A field of 144 players led by 2024 winner Austin Eckroat (+5000) is ready to tackle it head-on.

Eckroat, an Oklahoma native familiar with playing in the wind, picked up the trophy for the first time on TOUR in his second visit. After missing the cut in the 2023 event in the final edition on the par-70 layout, he returned to set the tournament scoring record (-17; 267) on the new par-71 setup. Hole No. 10 was converted from one of the most challenging par-4s (4.164) to one of the more profitable par-5s (4.232) on TOUR.

For the 2025 tournament, the 10th adds a new tee box to stretch the scorecard 20 additional yards. Leading the field in birdies with 23, he won by three shots after completing his final 11 holes on Monday and became the fourth, first-time winner on TOUR in the last six tournaments at the Champion Course.

Returning to Bermudagrass for the first time since Hawaii, 2023 winner Chris Kirk (+7500) will feel right at home. The Georgia native has cashed in nine of 13 tournaments. During his last three appearances, he posted a round of 65 or better, including 62 during his victorious 2023. One of seven past champions in the field, including four from the University of Georgia, he ran T7 in 2022 and took home a check for T28 or better in the last four starts.

Key stat: SG: Tee-to-Green

Players listed below are competing this week.* - won in playoff

Dating back to 2014, every winner except for Rickie Fowler (T10) in 2017, ranked in the top five in this category.

Keith Mitchell (+4000), one of four winners from the University of Georgia since 2014, has racked up back-to-back paydays of T9 in his last two visits. The 2019 champion is on a run of seven consecutive rounds of par or better. His final round of 65 last year is his best loop in 20 tries.

Comfortable in any breeze on any continent, the ball-strikingof Shane Lowry (+2000) translated to the Champion Course and pushed him to the top of the board at the FanDuel Sportsbook. The runner-up in a rainstorm late on Sunday in the 2022 edition, the Irishman returned and cashed a check for T5 in 2023 and T4 last year. Making his eighth start, he has played every weekend he’s entered and has recently produced 17 of 20 rounds at par or better. The ultimate space to fill on the bingo card is lifting the trophy just down the road from his U.S. home base in Jupiter.

Daniel Berger (+2800) is the local favorite this week. Pushing Padraig Harrington to a playoff on debut in 2015, the Plantation native led after 54 holes in 2022 and secured T4 in the 2020 edition. Stepping on the tee for the ninth time, he has experienced every condition except accepting the trophy in the winner’s circle.

Notables

• Brian Harman (+6500) is one of two players to post 61, the course record, and is the only player to sign for this score in the field this week.
• From 2018 through 2022 the Champion Course ranked in the top 10 of most difficult courses on TOUR. The last two years it ranked as the easiest of the four courses used in the Florida Swing.
• 15 holes provide water penalty areas.
• The fairways have been reduced from 32 yards in width to 28 yards across, on average. Two and a half inches of overseeded ryegrass provides the challenge when the fairways are missed.
• The last five winners have ranked T7 or better in GIR.
• TifEagle Bermudagrass greens average 7,00 square feet and will run 12 feet on the Stimpmeter.
• Eckroat is the only winner since 2014 to rank outside the top 20 in Scrambling.

Oddsmaker’s extras

Sepp Straka (+2800) won his first event on TOUR in 2022 on this track and followed up with T5 in defense in 2023. His streak of eight consecutive rounds in the 60s ended with 74 to miss the cut last season. Playing the weekend in four of six starts, the Austrian has cashed T33 or better in all of them.

Floridian Eric Cole (+8000) was the forgotten man of the 2023 playoff won by Kirk. Cole’s total of 14-under, posted on his first visit, also set the tournament scoring record and would have won every previous event played at the Champion Course.

Min Woo Lee (+3500) has no problem cooking in South Florida. The Australian racked up seven rounds of eight in red figures, including six in the 60s. Sharing second in 2024, he added that payday to his T26 debut in 2023.

Opening with 66 and closing with 63 for T2 in 2024, Erik van Rooyen (+11000) finally cracked the code in his fourth start. His previous eight rounds produced one round in the 60s and a best payday of T60.

Making his third start, Kurt Kitayama (+4000) will look to add to his solo third in 2022. Posting 64 in Round 1, he followed with 69 on Friday and closed with 68 on Sunday.

Billy Horschel (+5500) owns three career finishes inside the top 10 and has cashed a check on his last five appearances. The Florida native opened and closed with 66 in 2024 for T9.

Sungjae Im (+2200) became the youngest winner at 21 after securing the 2020 edition. The Korean put up a sturdy defense (T8) the following year but continued the tradition of champions unable to defend the title. The last three years have not been as fruitful (MC-T42-MC), but he ranks as one of the top betting choices.

Rickie Fowler (+5500) won the 2017 edition and ran T2 in the 2019 event. Making the cut in 10 of 14 starts, he sits at the top of all-time money list at the event.

Orlando resident Byeong Hun An (+4500) has never won on the PGA TOUR, but he did win a KFT event across the state in Sarasota. With a pair of top five results and a pair of T21 paydays from six starts in Palm Beach Gardens, he deserves a look.

Cameron Young (+4500) has posted three rounds of 66 or better and owns finishes of T4 in 2024 and T16 in 2022.

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