The PGA Tour continues on this week as it visits the Champion Course at PGA National Resort for the 2024 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches. Designed by Tom and George Fazio in 1981, the Champion Course at PGA National Resort will play as a par 71, 7,147 yard layout this week.
Contested at the Champion Course for the 18th consecutive year, this year’s event looks slightly different with a new title sponsor. Honda was the previous title sponsor since 1982, before bringing their 42-year run to a close last year. Despite the change in name, the event will still feature the same strength of field and typical challenging golfing terrain. The Champion Course annually challenges the world’s best and for good reason, with water coming into play on 15 holes, strategically placed bunkers to punish errant approach shots and challenging, bermudagrass greens that will flummox those who dare to make birdie. Rarely does this event produce a birdie fest, with only 9 of the past 20 champions finishing at -10 or better for the week, although each of the past three champions have eclipsed this mark. To find success this week, accuracy from the tee, great command of your irons and a deft short game, not to mention a grinder’s mentality, will separate the best from the rest.
The Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches has been a staple on the PGA Tour schedule for decades, with the first edition being held in 1972. Past winners include Tom Weiskopf, Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Larry Nelson, Johnny Miller, Tom Kite, Hale Irwin, Bruce Lietzke, Curtis Strange, Mark Calcavecchia, Joey Sindelar, Corey Pavin, Fred Couples, Nick Price, Mark O’Meara, Tim Herron, Stuart Appleby, Vijay Singh, Jesper Parnevik, Matt Kuchar, Justin Leonard, Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald, Mark Wilson, Ernie Els, Y. E. Yang, Rory Sabbatini, Rory McIlroy, Russell Henley, Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Keith Mitchell, Sungjae Im, Matt Jones, Sepp Straka and Chris Kirk, just to name a few.
Only four players have won this event multiple times, with Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Mark Calcavecchia and Padraig Harrington each winning this event on two occasions. The scoring record for this event is 264 (-24), which was shot by winner Justin Leonard in 2003. The scoring record at the Champion Course at PGA National Resort is 266 (-14), which was fired by defending champion Chris Kirk and playoff runner-up Eric Cole last year.
Last year’s edition was won by Chris Kirk, who birdied the first playoff hole to beat Eric Cole and end a nearly 8-year winless streak on tour. Tyler Duncan finished in third place, two strokes back; Ryan Gerard finished in fourth place, four strokes back; and Justin Suh, Ben Taylor, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry and Ben Martin all finished T-5, five strokes back.
2024 has been a year to forget for David Skinns. A big ol’ goose egg. 4 starts. 4 missed cuts. An unenviable 4 for 4 if I’ve ever seen one. Skinns is losing strokes in 5 of the 6 major Strokes Gained categories, including a bleak 159th in Strokes Gained: Putting. Skinns hasn’t fared any better in this event either, missing the cut in his lone start here in 2022. The Champion Course at PGA National Resort is an extremely difficult layout and is not a course where you often play poorly heading in and magically find your form over the course of the week. In a stacked field, Skinns is a lock for a missed cut.
The 188th ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking, Andrew Novak is on the front end of a heater, finishing in the top 10 in each of his last 2 starts (T-8 at both the WM Phoenix Open and the Mexico Open at Vidanta). Novak has been a ball striking machine thus far this season, ranking inside the top 12 in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, Around-the-Green, Tee-to-Green and Total, not to mention ranking inside the top 20 in Scrambling and Sand Save Percentage, both of which will pay dividends as you work your way around a challenging PGA National setup. In 3 previous starts in this event, Novak has made the cut twice, with a best finish of T-29 last year. Novak could cap off this heater with an upset victory, but a top 20 finish would certainly be realistic given the strength of field.
Sepp Straka has had an up and down start to 2024, with a pair of top 30 finishes and a pair of missed cuts in 4 starts. In spite of poor Strokes Gained stats (Straka ranks outside the top 70 in each of the 6 major categories), Straka is actually striping the ball really well right now, ranking inside the top 30 in both Driving Accuracy Percentage and Greens in Regulation Percentage. Straka has great mojo in this event, finishing in the top 5 here each of the past two years, including winning it in 2022, to go along with 2 additional top 35 finishes in 5 trips to PGA National. We predict that Straka will most certainly be a threat for the win this week, but a third straight top 10 in this event and his first top 10 finish of 2024 should come to fruition on Sunday.
One of the great journeyman players on the PGA Tour, Eric Cole has continued his strong play from his rookie season last year into 2024, with 1 top 10, 5 top 25’s and just 1 missed cut in 7 starts. Cole is fresh off of a T-10 finish at The Genesis Invitational and is both striking the ball really well and has a deft short game right now, ranking 29th in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, 31st in Strokes Gained: Putting, 15th in Scrambling and 1st in Total Birdies. In retrospect, The Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches was the first event to put Eric Cole on the golf world’s radar, as he finished runner-up here last year after losing in a playoff to Chris Kirk. His results since then? 7 top 10’s and 18 top 25’s. Not too shabby at all. The more you put yourself into position to win, you will eventually put yourself in the right place at the right time and finally break through for a win. We predict that it will come full circle for Eric Cole this week and that he will pick up his maiden PGA Tour victory at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches!
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