By Chris Havlicek
Updated 2/28/24 1:06am ET
The PGA Tour’s Florida Swing gets underway this week at the Cognizant Classic, which was formerly the Honda Classic. The Sunshine State will host a PGA Tour event in each of the next four weeks. Rory McIlroy, the 2012 champion of this event, enters as a 7-1 favorite. McIlroy is followed by Cameron Young (22-1), Russell Henley (25-1), and Matt Fitzpatrick (28-1).
Nineteen of the world’s top 50 players will tee it up. World No. 2 Rory McIlroy leads the way, playing this event for the first time since 2018. This tournament marks the start of a busy Florida Swing with the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Valspar Championship, and The Players Championship in Jacksonville.
Dates/Location:
What: Cognizant Classic
Where: PGA National – Palm Beach Gardens, FL
When: Thursday-Sunday, February 29- March 4
Purse: $9 million
Defending Champion: Chris Kirk
The Course:
The Cognizant Classic will be played at The Champions Course at PGA National, a par-70 layout measuring 7,125 yards. The course was built by Tom Fazio in 1981 and was later redesigned by Jack Nicklaus in 2002. It’s a course that rewards precision with most fairways no wider than 30 yards and water hazards featured on 14 of the 18 holes, making accuracy a priority.
The Champion course is a 7,125-yard par-70 that can frustrate even the best players in the world. You’ll hear the term “Bear Trap” repeatedly during broadcasts, referring to the three-hole stretch of 15, 16, and 17 that feature two par-3s and a par-4. Water is in play on all three and many rounds have been ruined over that stretch.
Of note, PGA National will now play as a par 71, with the 10th hole now a 530-yard par 5. Previously, the course played as a par 70, with the 10th playing as a long par 4 around 500 yards depending on the tee box.
Odds/Top 10: (Courtesy of FanDuel)
Rory McIlroy +700
Cameron Young +2000
Russell Henley +2500
Eric Cole +2500
Byeong Hun An +2800
Matt Fitzpatrick +3000
J.T. Poston +3000
Tom Kim +3000
Min Woo Lee +3300
Sungjae Im +4000
Keys to Victory:
The Champions Course at PGA National is a venue that demands precision. To score well at PGA National, players will need to be extremely accurate with their irons on approach. With water playing a prominent role on 14 of the 18 holes, the winner of the tournament will be an accurate player from tee to green, also possessing strong course management skills.
The winning score has only reached double-digits under par in four of the last 12 years, though Kirk won last year at 14-under.
Photo Courtesy: Shutterstock
