The PGA Tour is at the Palm Beach Gardens, Florida this weekend for the 2026 Cognizant Classic. The fourth event on the circuit’s 2026 calendar, following back-to-back Signature Events on the PGA Tour schedule, will tee off on Thursday, February 26 at PGA National. The event will see a stacked field of 123 players contesting over the $9.6 million prize purse.
The Cognizant Classic offers its winner a $1,728,000 paycheck, following the standard 18 percent payout according to the PGA Tour’s prize money distribution chart. The competition starting off the Florida Swing, will have big-name players like Ben Griffin, Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka and Chris Kirk, among others playing for the top prize.
Joe Highsmith bagged the big paycheck last year beating Jacob Bridgeman in the final round. The 25-year-old one-time PGA Tour trophy winner returns this weekend to defend his title. Apart from the prize money, the champion golfer will also earn 500 FedEx Cup points and around 65 Official World Golf Ranking points. Other benefits of winning the event includes a two-year exemption on the Tour and exempt status for the upcoming Masters, the PGA Championship and The Players.
It is pertinent to note that the Cognizant Classic follows the traditional 72-hole event format and will have a 36-hole cut. The top 65 players and ties after the cut are expected to finish four rounds of the tournament and bag paychecks based on their final positions. While the winner bags the $1.7 million payout, the golfer finishing solo 65th on the final leaderboard is expected to return with just over $20,000.
2026 Cognizant Classic purse explored
Listed below is the complete prize payouts breakdown for the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches:
- WIN – $1,728,000
- 2 – $1,046,400
- 3 – $662,400
- 4 – $470,400
- 5 – $393,600
- 6 – $348,000
- 7 – $324,000
- 8 – $300,000
- 9 – $280,800
- 10 – $261,600
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- 11 – $242,400
- 12 – $223,200
- 13 – $204,000
- 14 – $184,800
- 15 – $175,200
- 16 – $165,600
- 17 – $156,000
- 18 – $146,400
- 19 – $136,800
- 20 – $127,200
- 21 – $117,600
- 22 – $108,000
- 23 – $100,320
- 24 – $92,640
- 25 – $84,960
- 26 – $77,280
- 27 – $74,400
- 28 – $71,520
- 29 – $68,640
- 30 – $65,760
- 31 – $62,880
- 32 – $60,000
- 33 – $57,120
- 34 – $54,720
- 35 – $52,320
- 36 – $49,920
- 37 – $47,520
- 38 – $45,600
- 39 – $43,680
- 40 – $41,760
- 41 – $39,840
- 42 – $37,920
- 43 – $36,000
- 44 – $34,080
- 45 – $32,160
- 46 – $30,240
- 47 – $28,320
- 48 – $26,784
- 49 – $25,440
- 50 – $24,672
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- 51 – $24,096
- 52 – $23,520
- 53 – $23,136
- 54 – $22,752
- 55 – $22,560
- 56 – $22,368
- 57 – $22,176
- 58 – $21,984
- 59 – $21,792
- 60 – $21,600
- 61 – $21,408
- 62 – $21,216
- 63 – $21,024
- 64 – $20,832
- 65 – $20,640
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