2025 Cognizant Classic Betting Preview: Picks, Predictions and Odds for PGA National

There was a point in time during Friday’s round of the Mexico Open when two of my three picks from last week’s betting preview were sitting first and second on the leaderboard. Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last and we missed out on all three picks.

The good news is the Florida Swing starts this week with one of my favorite non-signature events on the PGA Tour calendar: the Cognizant Classic, formerly known as the Honda Classic. PGA National is one of the toughest tests golfers will face this season which makes it an interesting puzzle to solve from a handicapping perspective.

Let’s take a look at the top names on the odds board, a couple of notable golfers, and then I’ll give my best bets for this week's event.

Cognizant Classic odds

Top 15 odds to win via DraftKings Sportsbook

Shane Lowry +2000
Sungjae Im +2200
Sepp Straka +2200
Russell Henley +2200
Daniel Berger +2800
Taylor Pendrith +3000
Min Woo Lee +3000
Keith Mitchell +3500
Denny McCarthy +3500
Byeong Hun An +3500
Jordan Spieth +4000
Davis Thompson +4000
Cameron Young +4000
Michael Kim +4500
Kurt Kitayama +4500

Cognizant Classic how to watch

Thursday: 2–6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Friday: 2–6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Saturday: 1–3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel), 3–6 p.m. ET (NBC)
Sunday: 1–3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel), 3–6 p.m. ET (NBC)

Cognizant Classic purse

Date: Thursday, Feb. 27–Sunday, Mar. 2
Purse: $9.2 million ($1.656 million to winner)
2024 champion: Austin Eckroat

Cognizant Classic notable golfers

Shane Lowry: The betting favorite this week, Shane Lowry, has posted three straight top-five finishes at the Cognizant but hasn’t managed to cross the finish line as the winner. The Irishman already has a runner-up finish this season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am so he should be in good enough form to be in contention at PGA National once again.

Sepp Straka: The 2022 winner of the Cognizant Classic already has a win in 2025, getting the victory at the American Express. Straka looked like he was going to have a career year through his first handful of starts but then was one of the few golfers to miss the cut at the Genesis Invitational. Let’s see if he can bounce back at a course he's already won at once before.

Cognizant Classic best bets

Keith Mitchell to Win +3500 (via FanDuel)

My strategy for PGA National is relatively simple. Target golfers who can scramble and avoid bogeys. A clean scorecard is the goal for this tournament. Take advantage of birdies when they’re available but not putting yourself in trouble is what's going to put a golfer in contention on the weekend.

With that in mind, I’m looking at a former winner, Keith Mitchell, as my top outright pick for this week. He’s third on the PGA Tour in both scrambling and bogey avoidance this season while also ranking 14th in greens in regulation. Not only did he win this event in 2019 but he has posted two straight top-10 finishes here the past two times he’s teed it up at PGA National.

At 35-1, he’s worth a bet to win this event for the second time.

Bud Cauley Top 10 including ties +500 (via DraftKings)

Keeping with the theme of golfers who can avoid big numbers on their scorecard, Bud Cauley enters this week leading the PGA Tour in both scrambling and bogey avoidance. In fact, his scrambling percentage of 82.86% is 9.67 percentage points better than the next-best golfer. He also ranks fourth in greens in regulation at 75.69%.

He’s coming off a solid T21 finish at the WM Phoenix Open and while he doesn’t have the scoring ability as some other golfers in the field, I expect his ability to limit damage to keep him in the mix heading into the weekend. He finished T21 at this event last year.

Kevin Roy Top 20 including ties +280 (via DraftKings)

Kevin Roy has quietly posted two top-20 finishes already this season, finishing T18 at the American Express and T17 at the Mexico Open. A reason for those solid placings is his scrambling and bogey avoidance, ranking fifth and second in those two statistical categories. Much like the other two golfers I listed above, he’s also been able to hit greens at a high rate, ranking eighth in greens in regulation.

If you want to follow my strategy of betting on golfers who are great scramblers, Roy is going to be a great long-shot option to consider.

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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You can check out all of Iain's bets here!