PGA DFS Tournament Breakdown: Cognizant Classic
Long-time grinder, stlcardinals84, breaks down his top PGA DFS tournament picks in various price ranges on DraftKings and FanDuel for the Cognizant Classic. Which golfers should you be targeting to try and take down the big DFS tournaments? Find out below!
Welcome back, PGA DFS enthusiasts! The Cognizant Classic is upon us, and it marks the start of this year’s Florida swing. After 2 weeks of elevated events, it is a welcome respite to have a week where we have a different-looking field and don’t have to entertain the weekly “Is Scottie Scheffler worth a ridiculous salary tag?” debate. I don’t know about all of you, but I am happy to have a break from that.
PGA National plays host to the event, and it used to be one of the more difficult venues on the PGA TOUR. However, some changes were made a couple years ago, and the course now plays to a par of 71 instead of 70. Naturally, that is going to lead to better scoring numbers, but the total scoring numbers have gotten better in recent years irrespective of those changes. Chris Kirk, Austin Eckroat, and Joe Highsmith have set course records in each of the past 3 years.
There is water danger around this course, and the rough is being allowed to grow up a bit more this year. A couple holes have also been lengthened with some new tee boxes, and I do expect PGA National to show some teeth again, particularly if the winds kick up. I am placing extreme emphasis on Total Driving and ball striking. Length off the tee is advantageous with a longer course, but you also have to be accurate with all the water danger. Par-4 scoring gets a bit of a bump on a par 71.
I love some golfers that are projected for low ownership, and it should be a fun one for GPP builds. Let’s dive in!
PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Tournament Breakdown for the Cognizant Classic
Nicolai Hojgaard
DraftKings: $9,400
FanDuel: $11,600
This week’s tournament is wide open, and I could make a case for probably 10 different golfers as the “top” option on the board, and all of them would seem logical. It’s part of what makes lineup building so much fun this week. For my money, I’ll opt for Hojgaard (the Nicolai version) as my favorite play. Dating back to last fall, he has 6 top-25 finishes in his last 8 PGA TOUR starts, and he showed his ceiling potential with a 3rd-place finish at the Phoenix Open a few weeks back. Over the last 36 rounds, he ranks 6th in this field off the tee and 6th in ball striking, and his only real weakness has been around the green — an element that is mitigated a bit on a course with large green complexes. He was solid at this event a year ago with a T18 finish, and his form is better leading into the event this time around. Expect him to improve on that.
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