The PGA Tour's 'Florida Swing' begins this week with the first of four straight events in the Sunshine State - the Cognizant Classic - and it promises to be an enthralling event at the PGA National Champion Course.
Host of the 1983 Ryder Cup and the 1987 PGA Championship, this Palm Beach Gardens venue has staged the Cognizant Classic, previously known as the Honda Classic from 2002-2023, from 2007 onwards.
A par-71 measuring 7,147 yards, the PGA National Champion Course is a layout that demands a strong tee-to-green game and has the intimidating final three-hole stretch known as the Bear Trap.
- SEPP STRAKA TO WIN AND EACH-WAY
- TAYLOR PENDRITH TO WIN AND EACH-WAY
- NICOLAI HOJGAARD TO WIN AND EACH-WAY
Straka To Land Second Florida Title
Sepp Straka made his PGA Tour breakthrough at this event in 2022, holding off Shane Lowry by a stroke, and he made a strong title defence 12 months later when recording a top-five finish.
The Austrian has since added two more US titles to his CV, landing the 2023 John Deere Classic and the 2025 American Express, and he looks primed to have a strong challenge for win number four.
Since his victory in January's Am Express, the 31-year-old went tied-seventh at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and 15th at the Phoenix Open, before missing the Genesis Invitational cut.
Straka ranks 17th in strokes gained tee-to-green, sixth in greens in regulation and 11th in driving accuracy, three areas that could prove crucial to victory this week.
SEPP STRAKA TO WIN AND EACH-WAY
Pendrith To Be In The Mix
Turning professional in 2014, Taylor Pendrith had to wait a long time for his PGA Tour breakthrough at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson, edging out Ben Kohles by one shot.
Since that success in May last year, the 33-year-old has recorded two top-fives and five top-10 finishes and he heads into this tournament sitting 40th in the world, just two places below his career-highest ranking.
Two of those top-10s have come in his last three outings and the Canadian's stats this season make for good reading, as he ranks third in greens in regulation, 11th in strokes gained tee-to-green and 33rd in driving accuracy.
TAYLOR PENDRITH TO WIN AND EACH-WAY
Hojgaard To Make His Mark In The Us
At the age of 23, Nicolai Hojgaard has already won three times on the DP World Tour and been part of Europe's successful Ryder Cup at the 2023 event in Rome, but he is yet to crack America.
The Danish star made a slow start to the year, going T65 at the Dubai Desert Classic and T36 at the Phoenix Open, before he burst into life at last week's Mexico Open with an eighth-placed effort.
Hojgaard was second for greens regulation in Mexico and in the top 10 for strokes gained off-the-tee, approach and total, with a cold putter the one club letting him down.
But a hot putter is not necessarily essential here and the emphasis is more on a solid tee-to-green game, so it bodes well that Hojgaard is 10th in strokes gained in that department and unrivalled in greens in regulation on the PGA Tour.
NICOLAI HOJGAARD TO WIN AND EACH-WAY
