The First Look: Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches

The PGA TOUR’s Florida Swing begins this week at PGA National, where Chris Kirk returns as the defending champion at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches after an emotional playoff victory in 2023.

Rory McIlroy returns to the Cognizant Classic before a busy Florida stretch that will also include starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and THE PLAYERS Championship. McIlroy, who will get to sleep in his own bed this week, has won all three tournaments.

This is the final event for golfers to earn a spot in the TOUR's next Signature Event, the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, via the Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5, which reward in-form players with spots in the prestigious Signature Events. The Arnold Palmer Invitational is next week in Orlando, Florida.

PGA National will now play as a par 71, with the 10th hole now a 530-yard par 5. Previously, the course played as a par 70, with the 10th playing as a long par 4 around 500 yards depending on the tee box.

Here’s everything else you need to know before play begins.

FIELD NOTES: McIlroy, who is making his third TOUR start of 2024, is searching for his first top-10 finish. This will mark his 10th start at PGA National but first since 2018. He won in 2012 – holding off Tiger Woods – and finished second in 2014… Chris Kirk looks to successfully defend his title at PGA National – something that hasn’t been done here since Jack Nicklaus in 1977-78. Kirk won The Sentry to open the 2024 PGA TOUR season… Eric Cole, whom Kirk defeated in a playoff at PGA National a year ago, lives in the area and returns to try and do one better this year. Cole, who won the TOUR’s Rookie of the Year honor last year, has had five top 25s in seven starts this season, including a T10 at The Genesis Invitational… The latest PGA TOUR winner, Jake Knapp, will look to make it two in a row. He’s set to tee it up at the Cognizant Classic, where he’ll make his PGA National debut… Current FedExCup leader Matthieu Pavon is back in action for the first time since finishing third at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Pavon has three top-10 finishes this season including his breakthrough win at the Farmers Insurance Open… World No. 9 Matt Fitzpatrick is making his third start at the Cognizant Classic and first since 2017. His best this season: a T14 at The Sentry… Fellow European Ryder Cuppers Shane Lowry and Justin Rose are also in the field at PGA National. Rose returns to PGA National for just the second time since 2015 despite having finished in the top five in 2010, 2012 and 2013. Lowry, meanwhile, will tee it up for the fifth straight year. He was one shot behind winner Sepp Straka in 2022 and, like McIlroy, lives in Jupiter… Another resident of Jupiter, Rickie Fowler, returns to the Cognizant Classic after missing it last season for the first time in 13 years. Fowler won at PGA National in 2017 and was the runner up in 2019… In all, 19 of the top 50 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking are set to tee it up.

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Ryan Palmer will make his 500th career PGA TOUR start in his 15th appearance at the Cognizant Classic. Palmer’s best result at PGA National came in 2014 when he finished second. He’s a four-time TOUR winner…Fred Biondi will tee it up for the second week in a row on the PGA TOUR. Biondi, the 2023 NCAA individual champion at the University of Florida, missed the cut last at the Mexico Open at Vidanta last week but has made four cuts in four starts on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024 including a tie for seventh to start the season… Rasmus Højgaard will make his 2024 PGA TOUR debut at PGA National. He hasn’t finished worse than T11 on the DP World Tour, including a runner-up finish at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship. Højaard’s twin brother, Nicolai, finished second at the Farmers Insurance Open last month… APGA standout Chase Johnson will make his sixth career PGA TOUR start. Johnson was the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption winner for The Genesis Invitational and made the cut… Patton Kizzire has been trying to play his way back into form after losing his TOUR card last year, while Padraig Harrington is a two-time winner of the Cognizant Classic, most recently in 2015.

SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: The Aon Swing 5 for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard is made up of the top five FedExCup points earners from the Mexico Open at Vidanta and the Cognizant Classic… Sami Valimaki leads the way, with Stephan Jaeger, Justin Lower, C.T. Pan and Robert MacIntyre inside the magic number. All five are in the field at PGA National… Five golfers are 20 points behind the final qualifying spot: Doug Ghim, Chan Kim, Andrew Novak, Erik van Rooyen and Carson Young… The Aon Next 10 for the Arnold Palmer Invitational will be comprised of the top 10 players in the 2024 FedExCup standing who are not yet exempt for the field… Jaeger is also in the mix in the Aon Next 10, just 31 points behind Thomas Detry for the last spot… Mark Hubbard is just ahead of Detry in the ninth spot.

COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 UPDATES: Mexico winner Jake Knapp moved up 45 spots to No. 8 in the standings… Three players have been in the Comcast Business TOUR Top 10 every week this season: defending Cognizant champ Chris Kirk, J.T. Poston and Byeong Hun An… There are only two golfers under the age of 30 in the top 10 – Scottie Scheffler and Knapp.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: PGA National (Champion), par 71, 7,147 yards. New for this year is No. 10 playing as a 530-yard par 5. Fairway lines were also widened in May of last year, reverting to the grassing lines from 2012-13. One acre of fairway grass was added since last year.

Tom and George Fazio designed the course in 1981 and it was re-worked by Jack Nicklaus in 2002, 2014 and 2018. Water comes into play on 15 of the 18 holes including The Bear Trap (Nos. 15-17).

72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Justin Leonard (2003 at Mirasol). PGA National record: 266, Chris Kirk (2023), Eric Cole (2023)

18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Brian Harman (Round 2, 2012), Matt Jones (Round 1, 2021)

LAST TIME: Chris Kirk won on the PGA TOUR for the first time in nearly eight years, his birdie on the first playoff hole topping Eric Cole. Kirk had a one-shot lead on 18 in regulation, but hit his approach shot in the water and made bogey. When Cole missed his 20-foot birdie try, the two headed to a playoff. Cole went for it in two but hit his approach into the greenside bunker; Kirk, who laid up, hit his wedge to just 16 inches. Cole missed his 10-foot birdie try and it was over. Cole would win Rookie of the Year, while Kirk was bestowed the PGA TOUR Courage Award after returning to the winners’ circle for the first time since taking a leave of absence from the TOUR in May of 2019 to address issues of alcohol abuse and depression.

Tyler Duncan finished third and Ryan Gerard, who Monday qualified, finished fourth. There was a five-way tie for fifth.

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