Extended highlights from the opening round of the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic at PGA National, the first of four consecutive events on the Florida swing.
Will Zalatoris is the latest big name to withdraw from the 2026 Cognizant Classic. Zalatoris, who has had multiple surgeries on his back, is missing this week’s tournament with a left ankle injury. He is playing on Tour this year through a major medical exemption which means his starts are limited, Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard reports.
Nico Echavarria told Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard that his 2026 season on Tour has been “a lot of highlights and a lot of lowlights.” The first round at PGA National is among the former as the 31-year-old Colombian native sits one shot off the lead after firing an 8-under 63 on Thursday.
Brooks Koepka struggled with his short game during the first 18 holes at the 2026 Cognizant Classic. Koepka, who’s playing in front of a hometown crowd this week, had similar issues with the putter during two West Coast events earlier this year.
The first of four Florida stops on the PGA Tour continues Friday at the Cognizant Classic, where Austin Smotherman and Nico Echavarria have gained separation on the leaderboard from the rest of the field.
Unfazed by a quadruple bogey on the 17th hole, David Ford rallied with an incredible approach shot for eagle on PGA National’s second hole. He followed it up with an equally impressive eagle on 3, completely undoing the four strokes gained from his front nine. And if that wasn’t enough, Ford’s hole-out par save on 4 gave him three consecutive makes from off the green.
Daniel Berger has the best combined opening-round score of any player on Tour at PGA National since 2020. Berger, who shot a 4-under 67 on Thursday, sits comfortably inside the Cognizant Classic’s top 10 after 18 holes.
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Scottie Scheffler struggled at TPC Scottsdale on Thursday and Chris Gotterup took advantage of an early start times to lay claim to the leaderboard. In the afternoon, Hideki Matsuyama, Joel Dahmen and Keith Mitchell shined. The famous 16th hole “Coliseum” saw plenty of birdie putts, and an incredible chip-in from Dahmen.
Brooks Koepka switched from a blade putter to a mallet putter ahead of the WM Phoenix Open in hopes it would help improve his struggles on the greens. Koepka finished with a 4-over 75 during the first round at TPC Scottsdale.
Washington state native Joel Dahmen repped his NFC champion Seattle Seahawks on the par-3 16th Thursday at the 2026 WM Phoenix Open, and then chipped in to set off the crowd.
Playing in the same group, Gotterup was 10 shots better than the world No. 1 on Thursday at TPC Scottsdale.