The Cognizant Classic of the Palm Beaches has been affected by the layoffs that were confirmed on Thursday by the PGA Tour.
Todd Fleming, the event’s tournament director, was among the 56 PGA Tour employees who were laid off on Thursday. The event is expected to proceed in 2027 with an interim director.
The Cognizant, which dates to 1972 when it was first called the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic, has been run by PGA Tour Events—formerly Championship Management—for the past three years.
That arm of the Tour runs several tournaments, including the Players Championship, the Tour Championship and the upcoming Cadillac and Truist Championships.
Those events have Tour staff in charge and in key leadership roles, unlike more than two dozen other events on the PGA Tour that are owned and operating by local non-profit organizations.
Nico Echavarria won this year’s Cognizant in a thrilling finish, but the event has been plagued by a poor date on the calendar. It’s stuck between two signature events, making it difficult to attract a strong field, despite its local ties to players.
The tournament has been played at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens since 2007.
The Tour has been restructuring since it became a for-profit entity two years ago. CEO Brian Rolapp outlined a future plan that would see tiers of events with a more streamlined schedule. The Cognizant could fall into the second category, although no decisions have been made.
The Tour earlier this week said that the season-opening events in Hawaii would not take place next year. And further changes to the schedule are expected under the new plan.
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