Cognizant Classic 2026: Wave of WDs hints at PGA Tour’s potential future
The cognizant classic 2026 arrives amid a wave of withdrawals that underscore the event’s tenuous place as the PGA Tour reworks its schedule. The tournament, long the Honda Classic at PGA National in the Palm Beaches, now faces diminished star power and questions about its calendar slot.
Tenuous place on the schedule
The Cognizant Classic finds itself in a tenuous position as the PGA Tour looks to rework its schedule. New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp and the Future Competitions Committee, led by Tiger Woods, are reshaping the tour schedule with “scarcity” in mind. That broader reshuffle has left the Cognizant in a lurch.
History at PGA National
For years, the artist formerly known as the Honda Classic was one of the must-watch stops on the PGA Tour. Held at the difficult PGA National, the Honda Classic served as the opening for the PGA Tour’s Florida Swing and annually welcomed the game’s best. Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler are all past champions. Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka and others have teed it up on several occasions.
How the changes unfolded
In the mid-2010s, the Honda Classic, now called the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, attracted top players, many of whom call Florida home, by offering a chance to play a difficult course for a purse that was in the same ballpark as stops at Pebble Beach, Riviera and Bay Hill. The Players Championship used to be held in May, which meant the Arnold Palmer Invitational wasn’t held until the back end of March, and the Honda had a nice spot between Riviera and the WGC at Trump Doral. With purses in the $6 million range and players only playing select West Coast events, the Honda Classic held its own and was a popular tournament.
Times began changing in 2019 when the Players Championship moved to March, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational was slotted between it and the Honda. PGA National still commanded a good field until LIV Golf arrived and the Signature Event model was introduced in 2023. Suddenly, the Cognizant found itself following two West Coast events with $20 million purses, and in front of the API ($20 million purse) and the Players ($25 million).
Cognizant Classic 2026 field
This week’s cognizant classic 2026 was further highlighted by late withdrawals. On Monday, Ben Griffin, Adam Scott and Jacob Bridgeman, three of the top betting favorites, all withdrew from this week’s event. The tournament will feature just one player in the top 30 in the world (Ryan Gerard) and just eight of the top 50. Brooks Koepka, Billy Horschel and Gary Woodland will tee it up, but for the most part, the buzz has been lost from an event that used to signal the start of the run to the Masters.
Player reaction and the field split
“It’s a bummer, ” Thomas said after last night’s TGL match of the Cognizant’s weaker field. “It’s one of those events that has fallen at an unfortunate time in the schedule. I think it’s both a great thing and a bad thing of our schedule, how great it is and the amount of great golf courses that we go to.
“It kills me that I can’t play Torrey Pines every year. Like Torrey Pines South, to me, is such a great golf course. It fits my eye so well. I like the North Course, but I can’t play in it every year. Or Colonial is an event in the past where — I love Colonial. I think that golf course is incredible, but I can’t play four or five in a row. ”
The Signature Event model has done its job, but it has also segmented the PGA Tour into a group of star-studded, limited-field events and full-field events that attract occasional stars but are mainly used as a way for players to play their way into the bigger events. It’s why Fowler played in the Cognizant last year but isn’t teeing it up this year after punching his
As the PGA Tour’s calendar continues to shift, the Cognizant Classic’s place — once a key signpost on the road to the Masters — remains uncertain.
