Eric Cole tops PGA Tour power rankings for the 2024 Cognizant Classic

The PGA Tour has now moved on to the next stop of its 2024 season, the Cognizant Classic. The tournament might have had a name change this year, but it will be played at the same PGA National Champions Course in Palm Beach, Florida.

The field for the event will consist of 144 golfers. The tournament will boast a prize purse of $9 million and is headlined by the likes of Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick. According to the PGA Tour's power rankings, however, it is Eric Cole who will surprise everyone.

PGA Tour expert Rob Bolton wrote about Eric Cole (via the PGA Tour official site):

"After, gulp, not playing last week, the road warrior arrives rested with five top 25s in 2024. PGA National is where the Rookie of the Year launched his campaign in earnest with a playoff loss in his tournament debut. He hasn’t relented since."

Second on the list is Chris Kirk, who is also the defending champion at the Cognizant Classic. Kirk is coming in strong after winning the season-opening Sentry Tournament this year.

"The defending champ paid off the victory with another at The Sentry to open 2024, but he’s slipped since. It’s not atypical for the veteran, but he’s been consistently strong at PGA National since 2021 with a T25 and a T7 preceding the win," Bolton added.

Byeong Hun An, Russell Henley and Rory McIlroy round off the top 5 power rankings.

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Full list of power rankings for the 2024 Cognizant Classic explored

Following is the complete list of power rankings according to the PGA Tour:

1. Eric Cole
2. Chris Kirk
3. Byeong Hun An
4. Russell Henley
5. Rory McIlroy
6. Stephan Jaeger
7. Sepp Straka
8. Keith Mitchell
9. JT Poston
10. Shane Lowry
11. Matthieu Pavon
12. Rasmus Hojgaard
13. CT Pan
14. Eric Van Rooyen
15. Robert MacIntyre

Rory McIlroy has the best odds to win the Cognizant Classic at +700 according to CBS Sports. Cameron Young and Russell Henley are the other favorites going into the event.

Keith Mitchell is expected to be a long-shot winner with odds of +3000. While Rory McIlory is the overwhelming favorite to win, it is expected that he will fade away during the tournament considering he has had a less-than-average start to his PGA Tour season.