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The field this week includes 27 of the top 100 and 8 of the top 50 in the Official World Rankings — with no players from the top ten. The headliners among the top-100 players are #26 Ryan Gerard, #31 Shane Lowry, #32 Aaron Rai, #42 Michael Brennan, and #46 Kristoffer Reitan, along with the Hojgaard brothers, Rasmus (#48) and Nicolai (#55).

The field includes just one of the top 25 on the FedEx point standings for this year.  That player is #7 Ryan Gerard.

For context, last year's field was significantly stronger — 53 top-100 players and 19 top-50 players, including Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick. This year the weaker showing is largely due to the Genesis Open being played the week before, pulling some big names away.

The field does include six past champions: Joe Highsmith (2025), Austin Eckroat (2024), Chris Kirk (2023), Keith Mitchell (2019), Camilo Villegas (2010), and Matt Kuchar (2002).

If you’re serious about making the best picks this week, our GolfStats tools have you covered.

These tools are invaluable whether you’re betting, setting a DFS lineup, or simply looking for an edge in your fantasy league. Check out the full blog post and checkout this post for DK fantasy advice.

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Before we get into the Cognizant, let's take a quick look back at the West Coast swing and what it tells us heading into the Florida stretch.

Jacob Bridgeman was the story of the Genesis, winning by a shot over Rory McIlroy and Kurt Kitayama. Bridgeman entered the final round six shots ahead after rounds of 66-64-64, but the closing nine got very real. McIlroy made four birdies on his final eight holes — including a hole-out from a greenside bunker at 12 and a 30-footer at 18 — while Kitayama put up eight birdies. Bridgeman held on, but just barely.

It's a feel-good story. Bridgeman joined the PGA Tour in 2024 after finishing 14th on the Korn Ferry Tour and spent much of that year on the bubble. He clawed his way into playing privileges with a T-12th at the Wyndham Championship, then built real momentum in the fall. In 2025, he finished T-2nd at the Cognizant, 3rd at the Valspar, T-4th at the Truist, and T-5th at the John Deere — making all three FedEx Playoff events and ending the year 27th on the final FedEx Cup points list.

The other big winner of the West Coast? Jake Knapp, who didn't win but posted four top-ten finishes in five starts — T-11th at the Sony, T-5th at the Farmers, 8th at Phoenix, T-8th at Pebble, and 6th at the Genesis. Pierceson Coody also quietly made six cuts in six starts, with a T-2nd at the Farmers. And Collin Morikawa got back in the winner's circle at Pebble — his first victory since the 2023 Zozo Championship.

Now the tour heads to Florida, and here's the thing: this happens every year. Players who thrived out west will struggle with the Bermuda greens and coastal winds, while players who went quiet on the West Coast will wake up and remind everyone why they love Florida. A few names who have historically excelled on Florida and Puerto Rico courses since 2020: Shane Lowry (seven top-tens in 18 starts), Viktor Hovland (eight top-tens in 17 starts), Corey Conners (five top-tens in 15 starts), and Russell Henley (five top-tens in 14 starts). Keep these players on your radar over the next four weeks.

The Cognizant Classic is being played at PGA National's Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida — a par 71 stretching 7,223 yards with a course rating of 75.3 and a slope of 147. This is the 54th edition of the tournament, which dates back to 1972 as the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic. Honda sponsored the event for over four decades before Cognizant, an American multinational IT services company, took over in 2024.

The Champion Course was originally designed by George and Tom Fazio in 1981 and redesigned by Jack Nicklaus in 1990 — and that redesign gave us the infamous "Bear Trap": holes 15, 16, and 17, where tournaments go to die. The course has hosted the 1983 Ryder Cup, the 1987 PGA Championship, and 18 Senior PGA Championships. The finishing stretch is relentless: a water-guarded par-3 at 15, another at 17, and a long par-5 18th that is nearly impossible to reach in two.

For 2026, there are a couple of course changes worth noting: the second hole has a new tee box, playing 20 yards longer to 484 yards, and the par-5 18th has been stretched 30 yards to 592 yards — making an already difficult finisher even more demanding.

Weather looks favorable this week, with light winds expected for most of the tournament. Heavy rain hit the course on Tuesday, which will soften things up and likely produce lower scores than in years past. Don't be surprised if PGA National plays more like a birdie-fest than the grinder it used to be.

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Let’s take a look at key stats that are important for those playing at PGA National:

Greens in Regulation is the single most important statistic at PGA National. Since the tournament moved here in 2007, 12 of 19 winners and 15 of 28 runner-ups ranked in the top ten in greens hit. Last year's winner, Joe Highsmith, hit 58 of 72 greens. The year before, Austin Eckroat hit 59 of 72 and ranked first. Chris Kirk hit 54 in 2023; Sepp Straka hit 55 in 2022. The pattern is unmistakable — you have to hit greens to win here.

Par-3 Performance is the course's most famous weapon. PGA National has ranked among the seven hardest par-3 venues on tour in eight of the last nine years. The par 3s are not a place to survive — they're a place to lose the tournament. Recent winners have played them between one under and one over par for the week. Anything worse than that and your chances fade fast.

Bermuda Grass Connection is the quirky-but-real factor that shows up year after year in the winner's résumé. Look at the history: winners like Sepp Straka (grew up in Georgia after moving from Austria), Chris Kirk (lives in Georgia), Keith Mitchell (St. Simons Island), Justin Thomas (lives near PGA National in Jupiter), and Rickie Fowler (also Jupiter). Even Adam Scott, born in Australia and with a Bahamas home, fits the profile. The connection to Bermuda greens and coastal wind conditions is as predictive as any statistic. The last two winners — Joe Highsmith and Austin Eckroat — are the notable exceptions, both coming from the Pacific Northwest and Oklahoma respectively. But they're the outliers, not the rule.

Scrambling and Putting round out the picture. The massive, multi-contoured greens reward elite lag putting, and the short-grass areas surrounding most greens make chipping a real differentiator. Bunker play also matters — the course has 78 sand traps strategically positioned throughout.

Be sure to checkout our Composite Rankings tool to build your own custom 4 PGA TOUR Statistic categories.