Cognizant Classic Set for Monday Finish, Austin Eckroat Leads
Tom Kim walked after his par putt and immediately jogged to the next tee box. Billy Horschel sprinted to the 17th green. Rory McIlroy hit his approach into the treacherous par-5 18th at PGA National in conditions that were probably darker than last week’s “under the lights” primetime Match.
It’s not a sight you see often, but the players in the field at the Cognizant Classic did everything they could to finish as much golf as possible before play was ultimately suspended on Sunday evening in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
PGA Tour weekend programming has once again been derailed by severe weather. The tournament formerly known as the Honda Classic will officially wrap on Monday morning due to severe rain postponing play.
Dangerous storms resulted in a 3 hour and 30 minute-long delay on Sunday at the Champions course, suspending the event until 4:19 p.m. local time. Casual water accumulated on the putting surfaces and heavy rain forced players to be removed from the course. Practice facilities reopened at 3 p.m.
Austin Eckroat, the current leader at 15 under, was scheduled to tee off for his final round in the second-to-last pairing at 1:30 p.m. but didn’t hit a shot until 5 p.m.
Here is how the leaderboard stands in advance of Monday morning’s 8 a.m. restart.
Austin Eckroat, 15 under through 7: The Oklahoma State product is looking for his maiden PGA Tour victory. He is currently 2 under through seven holes of his final round.
Dialed in.
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Austin Eckroat gets back-to-back birdies to gain the solo lead @The_Cognizant. pic.twitter.com/ww9mP0FS59
Erik van Rooyen, 14-under total: The South African is in the clubhouse at 14 under and it looks like the score will not be enough. Rooyen is slated to play in the star-studded Seminole Pro-Member on Monday, but told Golf Channel that if he’s within two shots of the lead while the tournament wraps up tomorrow morning, he will make sure to be ready on-site.
Jake Knapp, 13 under through 15: The PGA Tour rookie is eyeing his second PGA Tour victory just one week after securing his first at the Mexico Open. Just two years ago Knapp was working as a bouncer at nightclub to support his dreams of playing professional golf.
Keith Mitchell, 12-under total: Mitchell won’t be in contention after finishing at 12 under, but posted a solid 6-under 65 amidst Sunday’s chaos.
Billy Horschel, 12 under through 17: Horschel will look to finish with a bang when he comes back on Monday to play just one hole: the par-5 18th. Horschel made six consecutive birdies on Sunday.
Alex Noren, 12 under through 12: The Swede has a great opportunity to make up some ground in his final six holes on Monday morning.
Shane Lowry, 12 under through 5: Lowry is looking to capture his first PGA Tour victory since the 2019 British Open.
The following players are tied at 11 under heading into Monday with ample golf left to play: Nico Echavarria, Kevin Yu, Martin Laird and David Skinns.