2025 Cognizant Classic, Picks & Predictions: Best PGA Bets

The PGA Tour heads to Florida for the first of several events in the Sunshine State this week, starting with the Cognizant Classic. Located at PGA National (The Champion Course) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, designed by legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus, this par 71 course favors accuracy over power. Water comes into play on nearly every hole, including the notorious Bear Trap stretch from holes 15-17.

Shane Lowry, Russell Henley, and Sungjae Im are the co-favorites in the outright winner betting market at 22-1. Im earned a victory at this event back in 2020, while Lowry recorded a runner-up finish to Sepp Straka in 2022.

My Mexico Open at VidantaWorld best bets went 1-2. The winning ticket came on the shoulders of pre-event betting favorite, Akshay Bhatia, to record a top 10 finish at +160 odds. Bhatia never climbed into contention but he did wind up with a solo ninth-place finish, closing out the final round at 4-under-par to cash this futures prop at plus odds. Patrick Rodgers to finish top 10 at the end of Round 1 was close to hitting at 4-1 but he just missed with a 67, while Harry Hall wound up T34, failing to cash his top 30 finish at -115 odds.

I’m here with a few more best bets to tail ahead of the 2025 Cognizant Classic at Follow me on X at Matt_MacKay_ for more free bets and weekly PGA Tour analysis.

Cognizant Classic: Best Bets

These plays are 1 unit and 0.50 units. Or 1% and 0.5% of your betting bankroll. Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Top 20 Finish

A popular name at PGA National this week is Daniel Berger. The American previously posted a solo fourth-place finish at this course in 2022, going 7-under-par, blowing a chance for the outright win with a +4 final round.

Berger has four career wins but missed a lot of time rehabbing a back injury over the past couple of seasons. He’s looked solid lately, recording a T2 finish at the WM Phoenix Open and solo 12th-place finish at The Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines South. Ranked 19th SG: Off-the-Tee, 34th SG: Approach, 23rd in driving accuracy, and 26th for hole proximity, Berger is an ideal fit for this course.

Let’s bet a unit on Berger to record a top 20 finish at +140 odds ahead of his return to PGA National this week.

Pick: Daniel Berger (+140)

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Top 30 Finish

Another golfer who has a very good game off-the-tee and on approach this season has been Lucas Glover. The 45-year-old American has alternated between solid outings and missed cuts, recently going T31 at The Genesis Invitational. Glover also has a T3 finish and T21 finish at the Sony Open at Pebble Beach in 2025.

Ranked 34th total strokes gained, including top-50 for putting and fourth for driving accuracy, Glover could climb the leaderboard at PGA National this week. He’s ranked 10th in hole proximity and 19th scrambling, but he’ll need to fine-tune his approach shots to cash this top 30 finish futures prop at +140 odds.

I’m confident enough in the veteran to justify staking another unit on Glover to record a top 30 finish at the 2025 Cognizant Classic.

Pick: Lucas Glover (+140)

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Outright Winner

It’s not often that we land a favorite at such long odds. Sepp Straka won this event in 2022 at -10-under-par and he’s already collected another win in 2025 at The American Express. Straka is a very accurate golfer with his driver and irons, which makes me like him a lot, despite struggles with his putter.

Ranked 13th SG: Approach, 11th in driving accuracy, and sixth at finding greens in regulation (75.5 percent), the Austrian matches up well with the rigors of PGA National. He’s also fifth in hole proximity, fourth in scoring average and birdies per round, and 11th on par 4 holes.

At 25-1, let’s sprinkle a quarter unit on Straka to collect his second win at PGA National and also his second outright win in 2025 to net over six units of profit.

Pick: Sepp Straka (+2500)