THE PLAYERS Championship is just a few weeks away, and the Masters isn’t far behind. With the PGA TOUR returning to Florida, ah, yes, spring is in the air.
The TOUR’s annual Florida Swing begins at this week’s Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, contested at PGA National Resort (The Champion Course) – the longtime PGA TOUR venue that has also hosted the Ryder Cup and PGA Championship.
Austin Eckroat returns to defend his title after finishing last year at 17-under 263 – the event’s lowest winning score in relation to par since 2003.
The Cognizant Classic is also the final chance for players to earn their way into the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard via the Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5.
Here’s everything else you need to know as the Florida Swing kicks off.
FIELD NOTES: Jordan Spieth will be making his debut at PGA National as he continues his comeback from wrist surgery last August. This will mark Spieth’s fourth start of 2025 (he finished T69 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, T4 at the WM Phoenix Open, and missed the cut at The Genesis Invitational). … Russell Henley, who won this event in 2014, is the world’s top-ranked player competing at the Cognizant Classic at No. 17. … World No. 18 Shane Lowry will also compete at PGA National. This is Lowry’s fourth start of the 2025 campaign, highlighted by a runner-up at Pebble Beach. Lowry was the runner-up at PGA National in 2022. … The American Express winner Sepp Straka, world No. 19, will also tee it up. … Rickie Fowler is back in action in an adopted home game. The Jupiter, Florida, resident has four top 10s at this event, including a win in 2017. … Austin Eckroat returns to defend his title after a three-shot triumph a year ago over Min Woo Lee and Erik van Rooyen (also in the field). Eckroat is looking to become the first player to go back-to-back at this event since Jack Nicklaus in 1977-78. Eckroat also won the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship. … In all, nine past champions at PGA National are set to tee it up. … Last week’s breakthrough winner, Brian Campbell, is set to tee it up at the Cognizant Classic – the first time on TOUR with a trophy on his shelf – and will make his debut at PGA National.
| HIGHEST-RANKED PLAYERS IN THE FIELD | |
| World Ranking | FedExCup |
| 17. Russell Henley | 3. Sepp Straka |
| 18. Shane Lowry | 12. Brian Campbell |
| 19. Sepp Straka | 13. Sungjae Im |
| 20. Billy Horschel | 16. Shane Lowry |
| 22. Sungjae Im | 17. Patrick Rodgers |
| 32. Byeong Hun An | 20. Michael Kim |
| 35. Max Greyserman | 21. Lucas Glover |
| 36. Denny McCarthy | 22. Russell Henley |
| 37. Brian Harman | 23. Daniel Berger |
| 40. Taylor Pendrith | 24. Andrew Novak |
SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: The Cognizant Classic is the second of two events (following the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld) for players to earn their way into the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard via the Aon Swing 5. … Despite his playoff loss in Mexico, Aldrich Potgieter tops the Aon Swing 5, with Isaiah Salinda, Ben Griffin, Joel Dahmen and Nicolai Højgaard also in the mix. Save Potgieter, all the rest are playing this week at the Cognizant Classic. … Two players moved inside the Aon Next 10 last week in Mexico, with Michael Kim moving from No. 11 to No. 7 (he finished T13), and Brian Campbell, the winner, jumping from No. 114 all the way to No. 4. … Nick Taylor, the winner of the Sony Open in Hawaii, continues to top the Aon Next 10 by more than 100 points over Maverick McNealy.
COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 UPDATES: The TOUR TOP 10 remained unchanged from last week, with Ludvig Åberg at No. 1 in the standings, 69 points ahead of Hideki Matsuyama. … With his win in Mexico, Brian Campbell moved all the way from a tie for 163rd to No. 12 in the standings, just 13 points back of the 10th spot, currently held by Scottie Scheffler.
FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.
COURSE: PGA National Resort (The Champion Course), par 71, 7,167 yards. The 10th hole was converted from a par 4 to par 5 for 2024, and it has been lengthened 20 yards for 2025 (now measuring 550 yards). Fairway lines were also widened in May 2023 back to the grassing lines from 2012-13. One acre of fairway grass was added between 2023-24.
Water is in play on 15 of the 18 holes, including the iconic Bear Trap stretch (Nos. 15-17), which includes two perilous par 3s sandwiching the dogleg-right, par-4 16th.
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: Austin Eckroat broke through for his first TOUR title, winning the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches by a comfortable three-shot margin after a closing 4-under 67. Eckroat – who won two individual high school state championships, went undefeated at the 2021 Walker Cup, won his second career college start, earned his card via PGA TOUR University and nabbed his TOUR card the following season – lifted the trophy in a Monday finish, after inclement weather in the final round delayed things by three hours. Erik van Rooyen and Min Woo Lee finished tied for second and van Rooyen did his best to put early pressure on Eckroat – after he birdied seven of his first eight holes and was 8-under through 10. A late bogey on the par-3 15th ended up derailing his chances. There was a five-way tie for fourth led by Jake Knapp, who had won his maiden PGA TOUR trophy the week prior in Mexico.
How to follow (all times ET):
Television:- Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)
- Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC)
- Wednesday: The third season of its popular “Full Swing” docuseries will premiere Feb. 25 on Netflix, bringing fans inside the banner season of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and others, and – for the first time – behind-the-scenes footage of the Presidents Cup.
| -- | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Stream 1 | Main feed: 6:45 a.m.-6 p.m. | Main feed: 6:45 a.m.-6 p.m. | Main feed: 6:45 a.m.-6 p.m. | Main feed: 6:45 a.m.-6 p.m. |
| Stream 2 | Marquee group: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m. | Marquee group: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m | Marquee group: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m | Marquee group: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m |
| Stream 3 | Featured groups/holes: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. | Featured groups/holes: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. | Featured groups/holes: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. | Featured groups/holes: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. |
| Stream 4 | Featured holes: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m. | Featured holes: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m. | Featured holes: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m. | Featured holes: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m. |
- Main feed: Primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course
- Marquee group: New “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group
- Featured groups: Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
- Featured holes: Combination of par 3s and iconic or pivotal holes
- Spanish feed: For the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld, ESPN+ and PGA TOUR LIVE will provide full Spanish language coverage for each round.
- Thursday-Friday: noon-6 p.m.
- Saturday-Sunday: 1-6 p.m.
Congratulations again to last week's winner @DFSNOLE
With the win, @DFSNOLE extends the overall season lead
Good luck to everyone this week as we head to Florida
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