PGA Tour Brunch | Cognizant Classic
Opening Round | '26 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches
By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk
PALM BEACH GARDENS - Shane Lowry, a three-time PGA TOUR winner, will make his ninth appearance in the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. Lowry owns three top-five finishes in his last four starts in the event (2nd/2022, T5/2023, T4/2024, T11/2025).
Brooks Koepka is back in action. The nine-time PGA TOUR winner and five-time major champion makes his 189th PGA TOUR start this week. Koepka, a West Palm Beach native, is making his eighth career start in the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.
The AON Swing 5:
The Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches marks the final opportunity for players to earn FedExCup points towards the Aon Swing 5 and Aon Next 10 with entry into the next Signature Event: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.
The top five players, not otherwise exempt, who earn the most FedExCup points during the Sony Open in Hawaii, The American Express, Farmers Insurance Open, WM Phoenix Open and Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches will qualify for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.
1 Michael Thorbjornsen 171.000
2 Nicolai Højgaard 162.300
3 Haotong Li 139.214
4 Stephan Jaeger 131.500
5 Kevin Roy 111.500
The 18-year-old Blades Brown will be making his second start of the season as a sponsor exemption (T18/The American Express)
This week’s Sponsor exemptions: Blades Brown, Adam Hadwin, Harry Higgs, Camilo Villegas.
The Cog | Tournament Facts
COURSE: PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
YARDS/PAR: 7,223 yards/Par 71
ARCHITECTS: Tom Fazio
PRIZE Money - Purse/Winner: $9,600,000/$1,728,000
OVERVIEW: (link)
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Joe Highsmith
PAST RESULTS: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup
How to Watch: Visit (PGATourCom)
The Cog | The Basics
Good Morning Palm Beach. We’re on the East Coast and its early tee times to beat the standard time sunset. It’ll be 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 8 before the clocks are set ahead an hour. The Tee Times today and Friday will run from 6:45am to 1:35pm (EST).
Weather: Today’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies, hot (81-degrees). Winds blowing at 13 mph. A 12% chance of rain.
Tournament Web Site: (link)
FedEx Cup Info: (link)
PGA Tour Brunch will post at 6:00am (ET) Friday as the Tour has worked its way East and we’ll try to get ahead of the early Tee Times for R-1 and R-2 editions.
How to Watch | Cognizant Classic at The Palm Beaches
Thursday, February 26, 2026 - (All Times Eastern)
6:45am - 6:00pm - ESPN+ Streaming
12 Noon - 6:00pm - PGA Tour Radio on Sirius XM and Online at PGATour.com
2:00pm - 6:00pm - Golf Channel
The Cog: Field, Tee Times, Updates and Leaderboard
The Field: (link)
Tee Times: (link)
Updates:
Friday, February 20
Daniel Berger IN
Michael Kim WD
Sunday, February 22
Taylor Pendrith WD / Sam Ryder IN
Adam Hadwin IN (sponsor exemption)
Monday, February 23
Ben Griffin WD / Jackson Suber IN
Jacob Bridgeman WD / Lanto Griffin IN
Patrick Rodgers WD / Brandt Snedeker IN
Harry Higgs IN (sponsor exemption)
Field expanded from 121 players to 123 to round out threesomes:
Frankie Capan III IN
Carson Young IN
Adam Scott WD / Chan Kim IN
Tournament Leaderboard: (link)
Last Week’s Final Leaderboard: (link)
Last Year’s (2025) Cognizant Leaderboard: (link)
What They’re Saying
Brooks Koepka with the Spider Putter (Golf Week)
Zalatoris Back Check (Golf Week)
Is Cognizant Classic Here to Stay? (Golf Week)
Power Rankings for The Cog (PGATourCom)
Sports Gambling, Daily Fantasy News
Expert Picks for The Cog - (PGATourCom)
Sleeper Picks for The Cog - (PGATourCom)
On This Day in Golf History
February 26, 2012 - Playing in only his fifth PGA Tour event, John Huh won an eight hole sudden death playoff against Robert Allenby at the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico. Then 21-year old Huh made the playoff when Allenby blew a two stroke lead with a wayward tee shot on the final hole of regulation. - (Courtesy of Randy Walker), Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
Parting Putt
Golf is HARD:
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