The PGA Tour returns to Florida for the 2026 Cognizant Classic, which begins on Thursday from the Champion Course at PGA National Resort. Brooks Koepka will headline a Cognizant Classic field which also features major champions like Shane Lowry and Gary Woodland. According to the latest 2026 Cognizant Classic odds, Lowry and Ryan Gerard are the +1600 co-favorites (risk $100 to win $1,600), followed by Nicolai Højgaard (+1900) and Rasmus Højgaard (+2200). Koepka is going off at +3300 to win and +195 to finish inside the top 20.
Lowry secured a T-4 finish at this event in 2024, which is a big reason why SportsLine’s Eric Cohen is backing the Irishman to secure a top 10 finish at +194 odds. Cohen has analyzed the 2026 Cognizant Classic field and locked in his best bets for this week’s PGA Tour event.
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Cohen is the host of The Early Wedge Best Bets Show on Tuesdays at 7pm ET on SportsLine’s YouTube page. These are his show notes including picks and rationale.
Outrights:
Nicolai Hojgaard (+2150)
- He’s on an absolute heater this season: T4 (Dubai)-T22 (Farmers)-T3 (WMPO)
- Leads this field in ball striking over the last nine months
- In such a weak field, a player with his all-around game is appealing.
- T18 here last year, gained more than 3 strokes OTT and putting
Haotong Li (+4700)
- Has been a machine off the tee: gained in 21 of L22 since May 2025
- Gained at least 1.7 strokes on approach in 7 of L9
- Can he win with an average putter considering the ball striking numbers?
- Beat Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen by 1 in Dubai last Feb. on DPWT.
Mac Meissner (+5000)
- The last two winners here MC’d the year before so let’s try for a third
- Course history doesn’t really matter as we’ve seen and Mac doesn’t have a ton – T53-MC
- Ball Striking positive in 8 of L10, gained 6 putting at TPC Scottsdale
- 11 straight made cuts – solo 2nd at last year’s Wyndham
Finishing Positions:
Shane Lowry Top-5 (+380), Top-10 (+194)
- Three top-5 finishes here in the last four years
- The numbers on approach and T2G are fantastic
- Two top-10s and four top-30s in four events since January
- Has won one individual event on American soil – in 2015
Doug Ghim Top-10 (+510), Top-20 (+235)
- Been positive OTT in 11 straight events (that were tracked with SG data)
- T11 here last year, gained 11 Ball Striking but lost 4 putting
- T16 in 2024, gaining nearly 5 strokes putting
Kristoffer Reitan Top-20 (+186)
- Since last May, gained OTT in 20 of 22 events
- Won the Nedbank Golf Challenge in December despite being slightly negative on approach
- That week, he gained 5.8 off the tee and more than 8 strokes putting
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Top Japanese: Takumi Kanaya (+130)
- Nakajima has gone MC-MC-64-71 – been a rough transition to the PGA from DPWT.
- Hirata hasn’t posted a top-20 finish since the KFT in August.
- Kanaya T31 at Sony – has spiked with the putter lately though his approach game has been rough. Two top-5 finishes in the fall. Best of these three here.
Longshot Parlay 0.1 units:
-Top-10 Parlay: Shane Lowry + Nicolai Hojgaard (PGA) + Branden Grace + Dean Burmester (DPWT) (+7864)
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One and Done:
- Nicolai Hojgaard
Want more picks for the 2026 Cognizant Classic?
You’ve seen Eric Cohen’s 2026 Cognizant Classic best bets. Now, see the SportsLine Projection Model’s full leaderboard for the Cognizant Classic 2026, including four longshots of +3000 or higher as top-10 contenders. You can only see the model’s picks here.