SportsLine's model simulated the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches 2026 10,000 times and revealed its surprising PGA picks this week
The PGA Florida Swing gets underway on Thursday, Feb. 26, with the 2026 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches at the PGA National Champion Course. Coming off two Signature Events, the Cognizant Classic field is missing many big names, but it does feature past major winners such as Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka, who is playing in his third event since rejoining the PGA this season. The first tee times come at 6:45 a.m. ET.
The latest 2026 Cognizant Classic odds via FanDuel Sportsbook list Ryan Gerard as the +1600 favorite, with Shane Lowry right behind at +1700. Koepka is +3000 after missing the cut in his last prior event, the WM Phoenix Open, while defending champion Joe Highsmith is a +15000 golf longshot. Before locking in any 2026 Cognizant Classic picks, entering any Cognizant Classic one and done picks, or making any PGA DFS picks on sites like FanDuel or DraftKings, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, simulated every PGA Tour event 10,000 times and reveals golf betting picks that have a history of being extremely profitable.
This same model has also nailed a whopping 16 majors entering the weekend, including the 2025 Masters -- its fourth Masters in a row -- as well as this year's PGA Championship and Open Championship. Anyone who has followed its sports betting picks could have seen massive returns on betting sites.
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Now that the 2026 Cognizant Classic field is locked in, the model simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
2026 Cognizant Classic predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the Cognizant Classic 2026: Lowry, the second favorite this week and the 2019 Open Championship winner, doesn't even crack the top 3. He's a golfer to fade this week. Lowry hasn't won an individual event on the PGA Tour since that major championship, though he did team up with Rory McIlroy to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2024. Lowry finished T8 at Pebble Beach earlier this month, but that marked his first top-10 finish since May of 2025. See who else to fade here.
Another surprise: The model is extremely high on Daniel Berger as a +2700 longshot, saying he's a top-six contender despite not being in the top 10 on the odds board. Berger struggled in his past two events, though he does have a pair of top-20 finishes this season -- one at the Sony Open and another at the WM Phoenix Open. He has three top-five finishes at this event, which used to be known as the Honda Classic, including one in 2022. See who else to pick here.
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How to make 2026 Cognizant Classic picks
The model is also targeting four longshots with odds of +3000 or higher as top-10 contenders. You can only see the model's picks here.
Who will win the 2026 Cognizant Classic, and which massive longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out the 2026 Cognizant Classic odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 16 golf majors, including three in 2025.
2026 Cognizant Classic odds, favorites
Get full 2026 Cognizant Classic picks, best bets and predictions here. (odds via FanDuel and subject to change)
Ryan Gerard +1600Shane Lowry +1700Nicolai Højgaard +1900Rasmus Højgaard +2200Michael Thorbjornsen +2200Keith Mitchell +2700Daniel Berger +2700Brooks Koepka +3000Aaron Rai +3300Alex Smalley +3300Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +3300Davis Thompson +3300Will Zalatoris +3500Max McGreevy +3500Richard Hoey +4000Johnny Keefer +4000Christiaan Bezuidenhout +4000Haotong Li +4000Thorbjørn Olesen +4000Nico Echavarria +4000Max Homa +4500Kristoffer Reitan +4500Michael Brennan +4500Jordan Smith +4500Mac Meissner +4500Mackenzie Hughes +4500Chris Kirk +4500Sami Valimaki +5000John Parry +5500Tom Kim +5500Stephan Jaeger +5500Ricky Castillo +5500Seamus Power +6000Garrick Higgo +6000Matt Wallace +6000Doug Ghim +7000Kris Ventura +7000Jesper Svensson +7000Kevin Yu +7000Zecheng Dou +7500Austin Eckroat +7500S.H. Kim +7500Joel Dahmen +7500Kevin Roy +7500Eric Cole +7500Gary Woodland +7500David Ford +8000Dan Brown +8000Billy Horschel +8000Adrien Dumont de Chassart +8000Dylan Wu +8000Luke Clanton +8000Emiliano Grill +8000Vince Whaley +8000David Lipsky +10000Mark Hubbard +10000Chandler Blanchet +10000Davis Riley +10000Keita Nakajima +10000Sudarshan Yellamaraju +10000Takumi Kanaya +10000Beau Hossler +10000Taylor Moore +10000Austin Smotherman +10000Lee Hodges +10000Erik van Rooyen +10000Matt Kuchar +10000Karl Vilips +10000Isaiah Salinda +10000Blades Brown +10000Steven Fisk +10000Andrew Putnam +10000Matti Schmid +10000Chad Ramey +10000Adrien Saddier +10000Sam Ryder +10000Adam Hadwin +10000Jackson Suber +10000Chan Kim +10000
