Cognizant Classic 2026: Elo Recap

No Scottie. No Rory. No Hideki. The Cognizant Classic at PGA National was an opportunity tournament — and the players who seized it made some of the biggest ranking jumps we've seen all year. Four players hit career-peak Elo, the biggest names in the field both dropped Elo despite top-10 finishes, and Shane Lowry's Bear Trap meltdown turned a three-shot lead into heartbreak — costing him the tournament, over $1 million in prize money, and 3 spots in the Elo rankings.

What a final few holes by Nico Echavarria! He played solid all tournament, opening with a 63 and closing with back-to-back 66s to finish at -17 and claim his third PGA Tour victory, two strokes clear of Shane Lowry, Taylor Moore, and Austin Smotherman. It's Echavarria's biggest Elo week of the season — ↑49.9 Elo, jumping from #125 to #68 in the PGA Tour rankings. He's edging close to his peak of 1,758 from November last year.

Højgaard moves up the rankings

Nicolai Højgaard came into the week as the highest-rated player in the field at 1,786. After R2 he was T53 after shooting a round of 72 that included 6 bogeys. He has a lot to prove after only just making the cut and finished with two rounds of 66 and 65 and tied for 6th in the tournament. His Elo increased ↑24.5 Elo to hit a new career-peak of 1,810, taking him to #15 in the PGA rankings — the highest ranking of his career.

His twin brother Rasmus also had a solid week, gaining ↑15.3 Elo to move from #36 to #28. The Højgaard brothers now sit at #15 and #28 in the PGA Tour Elo rankings.

Shout out to the underdogs

While Lowry (#22), Brooks (#29) and Homa (#61) would have hoped for better outcomes we saw great tournaments from lots of players outside the top 100.

Austin Smotherman led after R1 with a 62 that included six straight birdies, co-led with Lowry going into Sunday, and finished T2 at -15. A great week by any measure but at Elo 1,629 and ranked #200, he's still building his résumé. Taylor Moore also grabbed a share of T2, gaining ↑55 Elo. He peaked at 1,826 back in May 2024 and has been clawing his way back after a rough stretch — this was exactly the kind of week he needed.

A.J. Ewart was one of our players to watch going into the weekend — he was at career-peak Elo after R2 and in the final group for R3. He finished just 9 points below his peak, still in the best form of his career with only 46 career PGA matchups.

William Mouw had the biggest week of anyone in the field: ↑87.2 Elo, climbing from #375 to #123 and hitting a new career-peak of 1,663. Going into R4 he was "10 points from his career peak" — he blew right past it. T6 at -11 with rounds of 68-70-68-67 was as consistent as it gets.

Ricky Castillo extended his 5-match win streak to a 5th place finish at -13, gaining ↑57.0 Elo and surging from #172 to #85. He's closing in on his peak of 1,707 from May 2025.

Also, the quiet achiever award goes to Kristoffer Reitan, who hit another new career-peak of 1,761 and climbed from #67 to #32. He's on an 8-match win streak with only 44 career PGA Tour matchups. While his T17 finish might not jump off the leaderboard his rise through the rankings since July has been impressive and surprising. Definitely one to watch.

The big-name paradox in the Elo world

When you're the favourite in every matchup, anything less than winning is an Elo loss. Shane Lowry had a three-shot lead going into the final round. Then the Bear Trap happened — double bogeys on 16 and 17 after finding the water on both holes. He finished T2 at -15 and lost ↓6.4 Elo for the week. His opening 70 had already cost him ↓34.1 Elo because when you're rated 165+ points above your tee time playing partners, a par round is just not good enough. His R3 63 clawed back ↑16.0 but it wasn't enough. It was sad to see his last few holes. Elo ratings represent consistency and while he finished T2 he wasn't consistent throughout the tournament and after gaining ↑64.7 Elo at Pebble Beach, he had to give a little back.

Brooks Koepka had a quieter version of the same story. He was one to watch after his R2 66 — sparked by a putter fix — which helped him recover from an opening 74 (↓31.6 Elo). He delivered a final-round 65 to finish T9 for his best result since returning to the PGA Tour, but still ended ↓7.6 Elo for the tournament. His peak of 1,884 feels a long way from today's 1,772 — but with the Masters looming the five-time major winner is still no walkover.

Other notable movers

Chad Ramey gained ↑59.2 Elo and climbed from #99 to #42. He's on a 5-match win streak after having a slump in the end of 2025 and is now closing in on his career peak of 1,753 from 2023.
Joel Dahmen picked up ↑46.6 Elo, moving from #117 to #63 with a T9 finish. Trending up from a near career-low last July.
Adrien Saddier gained ↑40.5 Elo — another player at close to their career-peak.

Not everyone's week

Vince Whaley had the toughest week, dropping ↓51.6 Elo from #54 to #104 after missing the cut.
Jordan Smith fell ↓45.3 Elo and tumbled from #89 to #155.
Kevin Roy was hot coming out of the Phoenix Open but lost ↓45.6 Elo despite making the cut at T23 — dropped from #46 to #94 in our rankings.
Michael Brennan also hot coming out of Phoenix lost ↓44.1 Elo, slipping from #85 to #145.
Chris Kirk dropped ↓41.3 Elo after missing the cut, falling from #79 to #134. He must be wondering where that form is from April 2021.

Career peaks hit this week

As mentioned, four players hit new career-high Elo ratings this week: Nicolai Højgaard (1,810), Kristoffer Reitan (1,761), William Mouw (1,663), and Pontus Nyholm (1,466). A.J. Ewart also finished just 9 points below his peak — still in career-best form. This means they are playing more consistently than ever. See the full list of PGA Tour peak performers.

Looking at the PGA rankings

The top 10 didn't budge this week — none of them were in the field. But the action from #15 to #70 was big. Nicolai Højgaard is the big mover, now just 15 points behind Ludvig Åberg at #10 and knocking on the door of the top 10. Both are in the field at the Arnold Palmer Invitational next week — along with Scheffler, McIlroy, Matsuyama, Fleetwood, and Lowry. It's a Signature Event with a stacked field, so the top 10 will get a shake up for sure.

Check out the full tournament breakdown at elo.golf/pga/events/cognizant-classic-in-the-palm-beaches-2026 and the updated PGA Tour rankings.