2025 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches Betting Preview: Picks, Odds, Predictions and Best Bets

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Published on February 26, 2025

Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches Betting Preview

The PGA Tour heads east for the start of the 'Florida Swing' for this week's Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. We get a boost in the field compared to last week, where five of the top-25 players in the OWGR will tee it up at PGA National. 2022 runner-up Shane Lowry headlines as the tournament favorite at lofty 20-1 odds, and Jordan Spieth (45-1) will make his event debut. Last year, longshot Austin Eckroat (110-1) claimed his first Tour victory by three strokes over Min Woo Lee and Erik van Rooyen.

All odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 4:00 PM ET Wednesday

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Course Overview

Par 71, 7,167 yards

These are the average rankings of the event champions since 2020.

SG: Off-the-Tee: 8.2
SG: Approach: 8.8
SG: Around-the-Green: 23.4
SG: Putting: 18.2
SG: Tee-to-Green: 2.6
Driving Distance: 29.2
Driving Accuracy: 13.2

When we think of Florida golf courses the main thing that comes to mind is water and PGA National has plenty of it. Water hazards come into play on all but three holes and several holes it will be a factor on tee and approach shots. The Jack Nicklaus design is well-known for the 'Bear Trap' - a difficult three-hole stretch that starts on Hole No. 15 and features a pair of par-3s over water and has a par-4 sandwiched in-between in which water comes into play off the tee and on approach. Traditionally a par-70, the 550-yard 10th hole has been converted to a par-5 and will now be the easiest scoring hole on the course. The par-5s are the ones that players will need to take advantage of in general, as 11 holes played over-par last year. As evidenced by the stats above, the premium is on ball striking and accuracy over distance off the tee as a lot of tee shots don't require driver.

Palm Beach Behemoths

The following five golfers have the lowest scoring average at PGA National over the last five years (minimum eight rounds).

A difficult venue for most golfers, Lee hasn't seemed bothered by it as he's shot under-par in 7-of-8 rounds and most notably finished T2 last year and was fourth in SG: Approach. This will only be his fourth Tour start of the year but has looked solid with two top-20s, one of which came in a signature event. Lee offers a high ceiling and comes in as the seventh choice at 30-1. A little farther down the odds board at 45-1 we find Young, who has finished T16 and T4 last year in his two appearances. The 27-year-old has had an inconsistent start to the year, missing two cuts while only besting seven golfers at Pebble Beach, but he's also had two top-15s. It's difficult to know what to expect from him, but his history here makes him tough to ignore as frustrating as he can be for bettors.

Flushers Only

These five golfers, on a per-round basis, gained the most strokes off the tee and on approach over their last 20 rounds.

Ball striking will play a key factor this week and there isn't a player in the field in better form in that area recently than Pendrith. Albeit early in the season, he's fourth in SG: Off-the-Tee and 11th from tee to green, which has led to two top-10s. His results here have been mediocre (best finish of T25), but he's also playing better than ever before. Another player on this last that's known for his long game is Kitayama, who looks to be a bounce back candidate after missing the cut in Mexico in which he lost 4.8 strokes on the greens. His lone Tour victory came at another difficult Florida venue two at Bay Hill two years ago. Kitayama also finished solo third here in his most recent appearance in 2022, so there's plenty to like about him at 40-1 odds.

Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches Bets: Outright Picks

Russell Henley (25-1)

There aren't many players in the field who have a better track record at PGA National than Henley. The 2014 event champion has posted top-10s in two of his last three appearances. Combine that with a pair of top-10s already this year and you have someone certainly capable of winning.

Patrick Rodgers (50-1)

I know the narrative is that Rodgers can't win, but he looked the part when he finished T3 at a signature event two weeks ago – also at a difficult venue. This is a place that will test every aspect of your game and Rodgers is solid across the board.

Gary Woodland (55-1)

Woodland has four top-10s at this event including a shared runner-up, so he clearly likes the venue. He's looked much better since the fall with five top-25s over his last eight tournaments. His ball striking is good enough to win again.

Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches Bets: Top-10 Wagers

Bud Cauley (5-1)

Coming off a pair of top-10 hits in Aldrich Potgieter and Alejandro Tosti last week, I'll start this week off with Cauley who has been playing steady golf with a top-5 last October and results of T21 and T30 in his only two starts this year. The Florida native finished T21 here a year ago.

Andrew Putnam (9-1)

Putnam has lost over a stroke per round off the tee in three straight tournaments, but the short hitter won't be at a big disadvantage at this positional track. The rest of his game is well above Tour average, and he had a respectable T25 in Scottsdale two starts back.

Charley Hoffman (11-1)

Hoffman has putted terribly in all five of his events this year, so hopefully going over to Florida and the Bermuda greens will be a welcome change of scenery for the veteran. He still managed a top-5 during that stretch and his ball striking is far too good for these odds.

Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches Bets: Head-to-Head Matchups

Michael Kim (-120) over Max Greyserman

Kim continues to play quality golf with three consecutive top-15 finishes as his solid all-around play is yielding some of the best golf of his career. I'll take him in a head-to-head over Greyserman, whose biggest weakness is his waywardness off the tee which could be a problem with all the water that's in play. His ball striking has been inconsistent overall the last month.

Lucas Glover (-110) over Brian Harman

Glover has the steady type of track record at PGA National that is perfect for a matchups bet having made six of his last seven cuts here with four top-25s. On the flip side, Harman has missed three of his last six cuts at the event with a best finish of T33 during that stretch. His short-game has also dipped significantly since his breakthrough two years ago.

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