There’s a reason Saturday is called “Moving Day” on the PGA Tour, and the 2026 Cognizant Classic is a prime example.
Third round action got off to an early start Saturday due to the weather, as thunderstorms were expected to move into the area by mid-afternoon. That means players enjoyed benign conditions at PGA National’s Champion Course, which produced a day full of low scores and big leaderboard moves.
One of those moves was made by Irishman Shane Lowry, who fired an 8-under 63 to move into a tie for the lead with Austin Smotherman after 54 holes. Smotherman was the solo leader after each of the first two rounds and finished birdie-birdie to maintain a share of the lead heading into Sunday.
Keep scrolling for leaderboard updates, highlights, round recaps and more from the third round of the 2026 Cognizant Classic.
2026 Cognizant Classic leaderboard
Check tee times and keep tabs on every score carded at PGA National this week with the 2026 Cognizant Classic live leaderboard. Here’s what it looked like at the after play concluded on Saturday:
PositionPlayerScoreThruT1Shane Lowry-13FT1Austin Smotherman-13FT3Nico Echavarría-12FT3Taylor Moore-12F5Jimmy Stanger-11FT6Ricky Castillo-10FT6A.J. Ewart-10F
Austin Smotherman finished with a pair of birdies to round out an up-and-down round of 2-under 69 Saturday at the Cognizant Classic, joining Shane Lowry atop the leaderboard at 13 under. Smotherman held the solo lead after each of the first two rounds and maintained a share headed into the Sunday, where he’ll look to capture the first PGA Tour victory of his career.
Lowry, meanwhile, tied for the low score of the day with a bogey-free 63, making eight birdies and 10 pars to surge up the leaderboard. He made birdie on the final two holes to cap off a stellar day.
“Everything went pretty well, especially early on,” Lowry said. “I hit the ball in the fairway a lot yesterday, and I missed a few fairways early today, but I holed a few nice putts at the start. Then I started hitting the ball really well and giving myself lots of chances and converted a few and I felt like it was just a really nice solid round of golf. Birdieing the last two was kind of the icing on the cake.”
Lowry is seeking his fourth PGA Tour win and his first since the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a team event he won with Rory McIlroy. Lowry hasn’t secured an individual title since becoming a major champion at the 2019 British Open.
“My goal going out today was to get myself in the last two groups going out tomorrow,” said Lowry. “You want to be near the leaders, keep an eye on them and see what they’re doing. If the conditions are like this tomorrow, there is low scores out there, so someone could come from the pack. It’s not necessarily easy to lead around this golf course. There’s a lot of very difficult shots. But yeah, I’m up there where I want to be. I’ve had a few chances to win this tournament, and hopefully I can convert it tomorrow.”
Shane Lowry made birdies at Nos. 17 and 18 to cap off a bogey-free 63 in Saturday’s third round. He was the leader by two when he signed his scorecard just before 2 p.m. ET.
Shane Lowry rolled in a birdie putt at the par-3 17th to take the solo lead at 12 under just after 1:30 p.m. ET, one shot clear of a three-way tie for second between Nico Echavarria, Taylor Moore and Austin Smotherman. He’s 7 under for the dauy and has yet to make a bogey, with another birdie opportunity coming up at the par-5 18th.
Taylor Moore saved par at the 12th after an errant second shot while Austin Smotherman three-putted, leaving Moore alone at the top of the leaderboard just before 1 p.m. ET on Saturday. Moore, a 32-year-old Texas native, is seeking his second career win on the PGA Tour. His first also came on the Florida Swing, at the 2023 Valspar Championship.
Keith Mitchell narrowly made the cut at the Cognizant Classic after going 68-73 over the first two days, but there’s a reason they call Saturday “Moving Day.” Mitchell made a massive move, vaulting himself 30 spots up the leaderboard with a bogey-free 7-under 64 on Saturday. And he did it all with an unorthodox putting grip:
For a few moments, there was a four-way tie atop the leaderboard, but that tie has been broken thanks to a pair of birdies from Austin Smotherman and Taylor Moore at the par-5 10th hole.
Brooks Koepka rode a rollercoaster on Saturday at the Cognizant Classic en route to a 2-under 69, his second straight under-par round of the week. Koepka signed for five birdies and three bogeys on his third round scorecard and finished the day at 4 under for the tournament, in a tie for 31st on the leaderboard.
The pre-tournament betting favorite has found himself at the top of the leaderboard. Irishman Shane Lowry, arguably the biggest name in this week’s field sans Brooks Koepka, made his third straight birdie at the par-5 10th hole just after 11:40 a.m. ET to join Austin Smotherman in a tie for the lead at 11 under. Lowry is 6 under through 10 holes Saturday without a bogey.
High risk, high reward for Taylor Moore:
Hitting the fairway is overrated. Just ask Danny Walker:
After a pair of birdies on his first three holes pushed Brooks Koepka to 4 under early Saturday, it appeared the Florida State product might be wiggling his way into contention at the Cognizant Classic.
Instead, Koepka made mistakes on Nos. 5 and 7, giving back the two strokes and sliding down to 2 under for the tournament, and out of the top 25 as of 10 a.m., when he made the turn. He did rebound with a birdie on No. 10 and sat at 3 under as of 10:30 a.m.
Koepka’s best putting round in his three events since walking away from the final year of his contract with LIV Golf, and leaving millions of Saudi money on the table, came Friday on the course he is most familiar with on the Tour.
After Round 1, the Palm Beach County native and Jupiter resident was 111th in the 123-man field in strokes gained: putting. He made 70 feet of putts and finished tied for 98th at 3-over 74.
Less than 24 hours later in the second round, however, he led the field in putting after the early wave, making 131 feet of putts. He closed with a 66, allowing everyone with a vested interest in this tournament to breathe a little easier, knowing the tournament’s marquee name will be around for the weekend.
After a 73 on Friday, Beau Hossler came out cooking on the front nine of Saturday’s third round at the Cognizant. The Texas product, who has yet to make a cut in three starts this year, started on the back nine Saturday and finished with birdies on Nos. 14, 15, 17 and 18 to jump into the top 10 at 6 under as of 10:30 a.m. He added another at No. 1 to get to 7 under for the tournament, just four shots off the lead.
Hossler, who was once in the top 65 in the OWGR, has slipped to 153rd and could desperately use a good finish in Palm Beach.
It’s been an awkward few years for Joel Dahmen, who was a darling after the release of the Netflix show Full Swing, but is now competing on the PGA Tour with conditional status after finishing outside the top 125 in 2025.
He has, however, started this year with a bang, posting a T-7 finish at the WM Phoenix Open for a payday of over $300,000.
Dahmen is off to a solid start at the Cognizant Classic and entered Saturday’s round in the top 5 at 6 under. Can he capitalize on a weak field and earn his second PGA Tour victory? He was in a similar spot a year ago after posting rounds of 68, 66 and 68 in the first three rounds at PGA National, but he fell out of the top 30 with a 72 on Sunday.
Eric Cole has a pair of top-30 finishes in his first four starts this season, and he’s off to a hot start on Saturday at the Cognizant Classic. Cole, who posted rounds of 71 and 69 on the first two days, made birdie on three of his first four holes in the third round at PGA National and had moved to 5 under by 9:30 a.m.
Cole, who is the son of pro golfers Bobby Cole and Laura Baugh, has amassed over $11 million in career earnings, but has yet to win a PGA Tour event. He’s now in the top 10 in a wide-open event.
Ben Silverman is enjoying some home cooking this week. As the first alternate, Silverman replaced Zalatoris in a threesome with fellow Jupiter residents Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger. And after opening with a 2-over 73, Silverman came roaring back with a 4-under 67 Friday to move more than 50 spots up the leaderboard and safely make the cut.
Silverman was asked about changes coming to the 2027 PGA Tour schedule, which might include eliminating this week’s event and other alterations.
“That already happened with some of the other signature events that I loved, like Pebble and Travelers that were full-field events. I know there’s a lot of guys that don’t like it, but I’m sure when I’m in the top 80 or top 75 and I have a full schedule of elevated events, I’ll probably be like, well, I get all the elevated events,” he said.
“I’m not in a position to change it, so I can voice my dislike and it’s not going to do anything, so I’m just going to try to play my best and get in that top 80 or 75 or whatever that number is.”
Where to watch, follow the Cognizant Classic on Saturday
NBC Sports is making its 2026 PGA Tour season debut as the lead golf network. Golf Channel, Peacock and PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ are also all involved in the coverage.
What happened between Billy Horschel and the fan on Friday?
Horschel hit a bad shot, a fan decided to chirp up, Horschel engaged in a discussion, the fan was later ejected. Get the lowdown and Horschel’s post-round reaction.
Cognizant Classic weather forecast for Saturday
2/28 – A few strong to marginally severe thunderstorms will be possible this afternoon and evening, primarily around the Lake Okeechobee region and Southeast Florida. pic.twitter.com/J94yBWS0OK
— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) February 28, 2026
Things could get interesting in the weather department at PGA National. Here’s what the forecasters are calling for.
Cognizant Classic prize money, first-place check
There is a total of $9,600,000 in the prize fund and there will be a $1,728,000 first-place check handed out to the winner on Sunday.
What golf course hosts the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches?
PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, which opened in 1981, started hosting this event in 2007. The tournament first joined the schedule in 1972; PGA National opened in 1981.
The golf course is tied for 78th on the Golfweek’s Best 2026 top 200 resort golf courses in the U.S. list, which came out in January. Tom Fazio is the course architect. PGA National will play as a par 71 this week and measure 7,223 yards.
The last five winners of the Cognizant Classic2025 Joe Highsmith2024 Austin Eckroat2023 Chris Kirk2022 Sepp Straka2021 Matt Jones