Cognizant Classic & SDC Championship tips with 134/1 double
Sports Journalist at FST, Gareth qualified as a journalist after graduating from university and spent over a decade as a freelance broadcast journalist, commentator and tipster before joining FST. Now living in Manchester, he is a long suffering Bolton Wanderers fan who also enjoys boxing, the NBA, tennis and rugby league.
Rory McIlroy has made minimal impact in two PGA Tour starts this season but the Northern Irishman is unquestionably the one to beat in the Cognizant Classic at PGA National.
McIlroy is a strong favourite for the Florida tournament, formerly known as the Honda Classic, while the DP World Tour travels to South Africa for the SDC Championship at St Francis Links.
Racing & Football Outlook golf tipster Joe Champion has analysed both events and put together an each-way double which pays out at 134/1.
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Cognizant Classic winner prediction – Rory McIlroy at 8/1
All eyes will be on McIlroy, who bids to put two humdrum results at Pebble Beach and the Genesis Invitational behind him at PGA National, where he won his third US title at the 2012 Honda.
Once considered one of the PGA Tour’s premier events, the Cognizant has lost a lot of its lustre in recent seasons – as well as its best-known sponsor – and McIlroy has struggled in three appearances since he was denied by Russell Henley in a four-man playoff in 2014.
However, the Champion Course, a testing Florida layout famed for its brutal Bear Trap finish, is a great fit for McIlroy, who was able to bounce back from a sluggish start at the Genesis last time, carding rounds of 66, 69 and 70 from Friday onwards.
McIlroy was sent off at 10/1 to win that Signature Event at Riviera a fortnight ago.
Two weeks later, he’s not much shorter – admittedly in a larger field – to claim victory in a tournament missing almost all of the PGA Tour’s leading players with Cameron Young rated his closest market rival at 22-1.
PGA National is a course which demands top-quality ball-striking and McIlroy, while not at his best with his irons in his last two outings, is still driving the ball with his trademark brilliance and he could come alive for the switch to this Florida venue.
SDC Championship winner prediction – Ewen Ferguson at 14/1
The DP World Tour begins its latest South Africa stint starting with the SDC Championship, staged for the second year in a row at St Francis Links, where Englishman Matthew Baldwin ran out a seven-shot winner in 2023.
As with most links courses, an ability to control the ball in windy conditions, allied with the precision to get up and down around the greens, should equate to success and it’s interesting that only one South African featured on the leaderboard last year despite this course being a regular Sunshine Tour destination.
Home hopes Zander Lombard and Thirston Lawrence head the market but the next man in, Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson, shared third place last season and could be better equipped to cope with the coastal conditions of the Eastern Cape.
Ferguson has form figures of 23-9-7 from his last three DP World Tour events and should again be a key contender.
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