Value Report: Cognizant Classic

Jacob Bridgeman!!! What an unbelievable week for the 26-year-old, holding onto the nervy Sunday after a brilliant opening 54 holes. Having my flag plant be the winner in back-to-back weeks is a really cool feat, and it felt especially rewarding when Bridgeman did it as a member of the Value Report. A story like Bridgeman’s breakthrough is a massive reason why I love the game of golf so much. A true grinder who maximized his schedule opportunities and parlayed his short game into the Tour Championship last year. Then, a noticeable spike in his ball striking, combined with early, consistent results, just fit the bill for a massive result. Staring down the cathedral on 18 was quite the scene, and I’m really happy for a player like Bridgeman to win a life-changing event for him.

Reviewing last week’s picks, it wasn’t just the legend Jacob Bridgeman who delivered. Ryan Fox at $6,500 was in the thick of it the entire tournament, never below T12 after any round, and despite the small field, he still didn’t pull an overwhelming amount of ownership. Bridgeman was one of the players who steamed quite extensively from our projections, which isn’t too much of a surprise with that form in the $6K range. I’m willing to be a little looser with the 10% cap I strive for when it comes to signature events, but that would be the only bone to pick with Bridgeman last week. As for the other three, there wasn’t too much to be fond of. I’m happy that Matti Schmid put some scoring together on the week, but it still wasn’t nearly enough to matter.

The one frustrating point of the week is kicking myself for not landing on the clear path of distance at the bottom end of the board. We talked a bit about this yesterday on the Lineup Review Show, but my fear was that distance was going to be a bit too mainstream to swerve that way on top of the industry’s fit of docking accuracy. It turns out the ownership didn’t really gravitate that way and the sogginess of the course played extremely bomber-happy, so it really wouldn’t have been too difficult to lean into both Aldrich Potgieter and Marco Penge in that manner, knowing their ceilings with distance. Rory McIlroy was also the clear one who would get that bump on the top end, too, so the correlation of cranking up distance really could have been a path for taking down large-field GPPs. It’s super easy to say that in hindsight, though, and Bridgeman did buck that bill, so I will take the win still!

We head now to PGA National, kicking off the Florida swing with the Cognizant Classic. After the barrage of withdrawals at the top of the board, we are left with a field that is reminiscent of the fall events. However, this time we have the massive GPPs as if it’s a normal week, which I’m incredibly excited about for this event. Not a single golfer in the $10K range will adjust traditional builds, which likely means we’ll see lower ownership near the bottom end, and there should be easy ways to leave salary on the table without sacrificing much projection. With the recent renovations of the course making scoring conditions much easier, it nukes any bit of the course fit overall. So that means an old-school, game theory-style slate, which I’m ready to get going!

Tom Kim, $7,400 – The breakout star of 2022-2023 on the PGA Tour has seemed to burn a bit too bright, as Tom Kim finds himself in an extended rut. Winning three times as a 21-year-old seemed to have him on the fast track among the world’s best, but last year he saw just three top 25s in 27 events. Tom did find himself in a marketable position that has earned him a handful of sponsor’s exemptions, and despite his best finish of 2026 being T34 at last week’s Genesis Invitational, there’s a lot to like about his incoming ball-striking form. Tom, at his best, was a threat to lead the field in accuracy, strokes gained approach, and putting, but all three of those categories took a dive in 2025. But so far this season, Tom is back to being elite in accuracy, and now we have seen two weeks in a row where his approach numbers rival his 2024 self. Kim was T22 heading into Sunday last week after dazzling tee to green, but a lackluster Sunday still gives us a chance to get him off the radar this week.