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USATSI

The PGA Tour kicks off its Florida swing with the 2025 Cognizant Classic after spending the last month in Hawaii, the West Coast and, most recently, in Mexico. Of the 16 golfers in the field ranked in the top 50 in the world rankings, Shane Lowry is the biggest name and is the betting favorite at +2000. Sungjae Im, Russell Henley and Sepp Straka are a few of the other well-known competitors who are favored in this year's 144-man field, and Austin Eckroat returns as the defending champion. 

What does the projected leaderboard for this tournament look like, and who are some names to watch? 

2025 Cognizant Classic 

  • Dates: Thursday, Feb. 27 through Sunday, March 2
  • Location: PGA National Resort in Palm Springs, Fla.
  • Favorite: Shane Lowry (+2200)
  • Yardage: 7,135 yards, par 71

Lowry (+2000), Im (+2200), Russell Henley (+2200) and Straka (+2500) have the shortest odds of this year's Cognizant Classic field, while Eckroat, the defending champion, is +5000. SportsLine's Patrick McDonald has shared his top picks, bets and longshots at this year's event, Eric Cohen has made his picks for a parlay that pays more than $1 million if all the legs hit and the SportsLine Projection Model has simulated the event 10,000 times and come up with a leaderboard of its own. 

PGA National, which is a par 71 rather than a typical par 72, is one of the shortest courses that will host a PGA event this year, with its 7,135-yard length ranking the eighth-shortest on the schedule. We often sees golfers go low early in the year, and that was the case with the 2024 Cognizant Classic when Eckroat won at -17. He was one of 27 competitors to shoot at least -10 for the tournament. This course is home, however, to the fabled "Bear Trap," an incredibly difficult three-hole stretch of holes 15, 16 and 17. If the tournament is tight on Sunday heading into the final stretch, there's a good chance the Bear Trap could be the deciding factor. 

Right behind Eckroat on the leaderboard last year was Min Woo Lee, who finished tied for second at -14. Lee is back in the tournament this year has the seventh-shortest odds in the field at +3500. Lowry wasn't too far behind, either, finishing tied for fourth at -13. He was the leader heading into Day 3 before shooting even par on Sunday to fall to fourth. Lowry is consistently in the mix in seemingly every tournament he plays in, but he hasn't won a solo event in the United States in nearly a decade (August 2015, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). 

Jordan Spieth, who did not play in this tournament last season, will play this week and is +4000. He had another good showing at the WM Phoenix Open earlier this month, but he missed the cut in his last tournament, The Sentry, two weeks ago. Cameron Young tied for fourth last year and, like Spieth, is +4000, while Rickie Fowler is +5000. Fowler tied for 41st at the Cognizant Classic last year with a final score of -7. Brian Campbell, who is coming off his first-ever PGA Tour win this past weekend at the Mexico Open, is +8000. 

One longshot to watch is Erik Van Rooyen, who was tied for second last year at -14. He's currently priced at +10000. K.H. Lee tied for fourth at -13 and is back in the mix this year with his odds currently at +11000.