Cognizant Classic preview: Cole could get hot again at PGA National

The West Coast Swing is over and the pendulum has taken from down in Mexico right over to the other side, as the Tour this week takes to Florida’s PGA National.

The key question on everyone’s lips here is… what do we call this event? Everyone knows it as the Honda Classic but this year it is the Cognizant, so we’ll stick with that!

The mental game could be just as key as the physical in these testing conditions so you might want to avoid those players who are prone to a blow up.

Find our two level-headed selections for the Cognizant Classic below.

Eric Cole 22/1

Eric Cole is a standout name in what is yet another sub-standard field on the PGA Tour. He sits third in the market behind Cameron Young and the only one of the Tour’s major names playing this week in Rory McIlroy.

Cole is no stranger to PGA National and that could work both for and against him. He knows this course like the back of his hand and proved that last year when he lost out in a playoff to the eventual winner Chris Kirk, with a score of -14 that would have won the tournament every year since 2006.

Cole was certainly unlucky on that day and will be more determined than ever to go one better here. He is not the greatest of the tee, but that doesn’t really seem to matter here, and he has all the experience to avoid any blow-ups, especially on the potentially round-ending 15th and 17th holes.

Keeping it together down that back stretch and staying out of trouble will be key here. Cole ranks 29th on the Tour for strokes gained approaching the green and 15th on the Tour for scrambling, so staying out of and getting out of trouble is really his game.

22/1 is not the longest price but Cole has the ability to be a cut above the rest here, provided McIlroy doesn’t put on a vintage display, something which he has shown little sign of doing recently. With 8 places available at William Hill you should be able to expect a place from Eric Cole, but can he hold his nerve to come away victorious this year?

Lucas Glover 70/1

Lucas Glover is yet another reliable type who has more experienced than most round this testing layout. The six-time PGA Tour winner has bags of experience to his name and a lot high-placed finishes here.

In his past 10 outings here Glover has seen himself miss the cut four times, with a string of three of those coming between 2013-16 and likely out of his memory by now. Outside of that, his other six attempts have seen him finish in the top 30 every time, managing to claw his way into the top five on two sperate occasions.

As far as the here and now is concerned, Glover’s game looks to be suited to this tournament once again. Unreliable off the tee, he loses strokes on the rest of the field in that department, but the irons and wedges have been his main weapons so far this season!

The American ranks a very respectable 17th for stokes gained from tee-to-green, whilst his rankings of 25th and 13th for strokes gained approaching the green and around the green also catch the eye.

His secret weapon here will be experience and a cool head. The aforementioned 15th and 17th are enough to make even the steeliest golfers crumble, so Glover with have to use his veteran status to his advantage. At 70/1 he provides nice value, with a record of placed finishes here giving him every chance of sneaking into the 8 places on offer at William Hill, whilst winning experience could be the difference to seeing him over the line for his seventh Tour title.