The 2024 Cognizant Classic kicks off on February 29 at PGA National Members Club. A total of 144 players will play at the upcoming PGA Tour event competing for a whopping prize purse of $9 million. The winner of the first March event will earn a handsome amount of $1.62 million.
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy headlines the upcoming event and is the highest-ranked player from the Official World Golf Rankings. Last week’s Mexico Open Jake Knapp will also be seen playing this week but is not expected to record his second consecutive win.
Here are the top five best picks for the 2024 Cognizant Classic:
5) Min Woo Lee
The 25-year-old Australian golfer will be making his fourth start of the 2024 season at the PGA National Members Club this week. Although his previous three starts this year were not very impactful, he can yet come out as a surprise winner this Sunday recording his first PGA Tour title win. He has +3500 odds entering the first round this Thursday.
4) Sepp Straka
The 30-year-old Austrian golfer finished tied for fifth on the leaderboard of the same tournament last year. This time around, he has a +4500 odds before the first round of the 2024 Cognizant Classic. If Sepp Straka records a victory in Florida this week, it will be his third PGA Tour career win.
3) Eric Cole
Last year, Chris Kirk defeated Eric Cole in a playoff match in Florida. However, the 35-year-old American looked sensational throughout the tournament. He has been trying hard to record his first victory on the US-based tour. In his last start at the Genesis Invitational, Cole finished T10 on the leaderboard. He has +2800 entering the 2024 Cognizant Classic and with last year’s performance at the same tournament, he would surely be high on confidence.
2) Cameron Young
The 26-year-old American has the second-best odds of +2200 in the upcoming PGA Tour event. He has been fighting hard to record his first victory on the US-based tour. Cameron Young will surely be taking inspiration from last week’s Mexico Open champion Jake Knapp to record a victory this week at the PGA National Members Club.
1) Rory McIlroy
World No. 2 has the best odds of +700 in the upcoming 2024 Cognizant Classic. He is yet to record a victory in the 2024 season on the PGA Tour and it is expected that he will do that in Florida this week. The famous Northern Irishman will make his third start of this season and has not yet recorded a top-10 finish.
Well, who wins the tournament on Sunday at the PGA National Members Club will only be determined after the end of four rounds. Let’s see if it is any of these above-mentioned players or any new name who will click the PGA Tour title this week.
