{"id":499489,"date":"2026-02-25T22:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/499489\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T22:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:48:08","slug":"cognizant-classic-field-breakdown-notable-names-and-withdrawals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/499489\/","title":{"rendered":"Cognizant Classic Field Breakdown: Notable Names and Withdrawals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"438\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2263560843-e1772058792862.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Brooks Koepka\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Brooks Koepka  plays a practice round prior to the Cognizant Classic 2026 at PGA National Resort And Spa on February 25.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"223\" data-end=\"527\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/golf\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2026 Cognizant Classic<\/a> in The Palm Beaches tees off this week as the first stop on the PGA Tour\u2019s Florida swing, bringing a mix of veteran stars, rising contenders, and hungry challengers to the Champion Course at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgaresort.com\/offers\/?gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=22184005835&amp;gbraid=0AAAAA-vm-JxO_39MmE_MJ-kWRCFoJZ1oW&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiA2PrMBhA4EiwAwpHyC5xnwOZ6g7Oz23ZS3Q94eLoJVWZtLdTus0Co0KSXz_a2JF_ZoOmzvRoCeRQQAvD_BwE\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PGA National Resort<\/a> in West Palm Beach, Fla.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"529\" data-end=\"1002\">This event has deep roots dating back to 1972 and has consistently tested the mettle of golfers with its challenging layout and notorious closing stretch known as the \u201cBear Trap.\u201d While several marquee names opted out due to the proximity of more high-profile Signature Events on the schedule, the field still boasts plenty of compelling storylines.<\/p>\n<p>A Mix of Experience and Opportunity<\/p>\n<p>Here is a look at the complete field for the <a href=\"https:\/\/thecognizantclassic.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2026 Cognizant Classic<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgatour.com\/article\/news\/inside-the-field\/2026\/02\/20\/who-is-playing-cognizant-classic-in-the-palm-beaches-brooks-koepka-tournament-players\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">per PGA Tour<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>Henrik Norlander (out, W\/D from alternate list)<br \/>Patrick Rodgers (out, W\/D)<br \/>Jacob Bridgeman (out, W\/D)<br \/>Ben Griffin (out, W\/D)<br \/>Harry Higgs (in, sponsor unrestricted)<br \/>Adam Scott (out, W\/D)<br \/>Lanto Griffin (in)<br \/>Jackson Suber (in)<\/p>\n<p>Field expanded from 121 players to 123 to round out threesomes:<\/p>\n<p>Frankie Capan III (in)<br \/>Carson Young (in)<\/p>\n<p>Taylor Pendrith (out, W\/D)<br \/>Sam Ryder (in)<br \/>Adam Hadwin (in, sponsor unrestricted)<\/p>\n<p>Rikuya Hoshino (out, W\/D from alternate list)<\/p>\n<p>Kim, Michael (out, W\/D)<br \/>Snedeker, Brandt (in)<br \/>Berger, Daniel (in)<\/p>\n<p>Winner of PGA or U.S. Open Championship<br \/>Koepka, Brooks<\/p>\n<p>Tournament winner in past two seasons<br \/>Brennan, Michael<br \/>Campos, Rafael<br \/>Davis, Cam<br \/>Dunlap, Nick<br \/>Echavarria, Nico<br \/>Eckroat, Austin<br \/>Fisk, Steven<br \/>Garnett, Brice<br \/>Gerard, Ryan<br \/>Griffin, Ben<br \/>Higgo, Garrick<br \/>Highsmith, Joe<br \/>Homa, Max<br \/>Horschel, Billy<br \/>Jaeger, Stephan<br \/>Kim, Tom<br \/>Kirk, Chris<br \/>Kizzire, Patton<br \/>Lowry, Shane<br \/>Malnati, Peter<br \/>Mouw, William<br \/>Pavon, Matthieu<br \/>Pendrith, Taylor<br \/>Rai, Aaron<br \/>Riley, Davis<br \/>Schenk, Adam<br \/>Simpson, Webb<br \/>Thompson, Davis<br \/>Valimaki, Sami<br \/>Vilips, Karl<br \/>Yu, Kevin<\/p>\n<p>Top 70 on prior year FedExCup points list<br \/>Bridgeman, Jacob<br \/>Rodgers, Patrick<br \/>Hughes, Mackenzie<br \/>Schmid, Matti<br \/>Grillo, Emiliano<br \/>van Rooyen, Erik<\/p>\n<p>Top 100 prior season FedExCup Fall points list<br \/>Hoey, Rico<br \/>McGreevy, Max<br \/>Thorbjornsen, Michael<br \/>Smalley, Alex<br \/>Whaley, Vince<br \/>Cole, Eric<br \/>Bezuidenhout, Christiaan<br \/>Mitchell, Keith<br \/>H\u00f8jgaard, Rasmus<br \/>Meissner, Mac<br \/>H\u00f8jgaard, Nicolai<br \/>Woodland, Gary<br \/>Roy, Kevin<br \/>Hubbard, Mark<br \/>Ramey, Chad<br \/>Phillips, Chandler<br \/>Olesen, Thorbj\u00f8rn<br \/>Walker, Danny<br \/>Kanaya, Takumi<\/p>\n<p>Sponsors exemptions \u2013 unrestricted<br \/>Brown, Blades<br \/>Villegas, Camilo<\/p>\n<p>PGA Section Champion \/ Player of the Year<br \/>Hicks, Justin<\/p>\n<p>Leading players on DP World Tour (not otherwise exempt)<br \/>Reitan, Kristoffer<br \/>Saddier, Adrien<br \/>Parry, John<br \/>Li, Haotong<br \/>Nakajima, Keita<br \/>Neergaard-Petersen, Rasmus<br \/>Smith, Jordan<br \/>Brown, Dan<\/p>\n<p>Top 20 prior season Korn Ferry Tour points list<br \/>Keefer, Johnny<br \/>Blanchet, Chandler<br \/>Smotherman, Austin<br \/>Shipley, Neal<br \/>Lebioda, Hank<br \/>Dumont de Chassart, Adrien<br \/>Kim, S.H.<br \/>Lamprecht, Christo<br \/>Chatfield, Davis<br \/>Bauchou, Zach<br \/>Kang, Jeffrey<br \/>Hirata, Kensei<br \/>VanDerLaan, John<br \/>Dou, Zecheng<br \/>Yellamaraju, Sudarshan<br \/>Nyholm, Pontus<\/p>\n<p>Top five from PGA TOUR Q-School<br \/>Ewart, A.J.<br \/>Tosti, Alejandro<br \/>Svensson, Adam<br \/>Rozo, Marcelo<br \/>Wu, Dylan<\/p>\n<p>PGA TOUR University<br \/>Clanton, Luke<br \/>Sargent, Gordon<br \/>Ford, David<\/p>\n<p>Top 30 on prior Year FedExCup points list<br \/>Scott, Adam<\/p>\n<p>Top 100 (medical)<br \/>Hodges, Lee<\/p>\n<p>Nos. 101\u2013110 on prior season FedExCup Fall points list<br \/>Castillo, Ricky<br \/>Wallace, Matt<br \/>Hossler, Beau<br \/>Salinda, Isaiah<br \/>Lipsky, David<br \/>Fishburn, Patrick<\/p>\n<p>Major medical extension<br \/>Zalatoris, Will<br \/>Todd, Brendon<br \/>Lee, K.H.<br \/>Wise, Aaron<br \/>Hoffman, Charley<br \/>Willett, Danny<br \/>Streelman, Kevin<br \/>Stanger, Jimmy<br \/>Waring, Paul<\/p>\n<p>Nos. 111\u2013125 on prior season FedExCup Fall points list<br \/>Svensson, Jesper<br \/>Ghim, Doug<br \/>Putnam, Andrew<br \/>Ventura, Kris<br \/>Power, Seamus<br \/>Kuchar, Matt<br \/>Lower, Justin<br \/>Moore, Taylor<br \/>Dahmen, Joel<\/p>\n<p>What Fans Should Watch<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2601\" data-end=\"2997\">Course strategy will be at a premium this week at PGA National\u2019s Champion Course, a par-70 layout known for tight fairways, water hazards on 15 of 18 holes, and one of the most demanding three-hole stretches on the PGA Tour. With wind and water factors in play, controlling ball flight and managing approach shots could separate the contenders from the rest.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2999\" data-end=\"3317\">Odds boards have shifted this week due to the withdrawals of some higher ranked players, elevating Gerard\u00a0(+1600 odds) and Lowry (+1700) into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/golf\/news\/2026-cognizant-classic-odds-picks-favorites-date-predictions-projected-leaderboard\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">co-favorite positions<\/a> in many markets. Still, the presence of top-tier competitors like Koepka (+3000) and Homa (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgatour.com\/article\/news\/betting-profile\/2026\/cognizant-classic-in-the-palm-beaches\/max-homa-pga-tour-betting-stats-cognizant-classic-in-the-palm-beaches-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">+4500<\/a>) ensures the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/25\/betting\/cognizant-classic-in-the-palm-beaches-predictions-pga-tour-odds-picks-and-best-bets\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">leaderboard remains unpredictable<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/apolczynski\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alyssa Polczynski<\/a> Alyssa Polczynski is a multimedia journalist covering Major League Baseball for Heavy.com. She has experience as an editorial producer for MLB.com and contributed to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/apolczynski\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Alyssa Polczynski<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Golf\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Brooks Koepka plays a practice round prior to the Cognizant Classic 2026 at PGA National Resort And&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-499489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}