Scarcity is the mantra of the new PGA Tour. Ever since the CEO, Brian Rolapp, announced the league’s quest to bring “scarcity” for a better product and promised to bring significant changes to the schedule, there has been some fear among fans and pros. Almost every tournament is under review. The Cognizant Classic, held at the famed and now much-maligned PGA National, is one of them.

There are plenty of arguments to scrap the South Florida event.

Think of this if you want to gauge the tournament’s status and importance (or the lack of it). 12 of the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) call Palm Beach County home, living within 10 miles of the course. Yet No. 26 Ryan Gerard was the only one among the top 30 who bothered to tee it up this season.

That is concerning, but the head-scratching number barely scratches the surface of the issue. A reduced purse, from $20M a week before to less than $10M could be the case, but the problem actually lies in the schedule itself.

For much of this decade, Cognizant has been awkwardly slotted. For many years, it’s kicked off the Florida Swing. It trails the Arnold Palmer Invitational (Orlando), The Players Championship (Ponte Vedra Beach), and the Valspar Championship (Palm Harbor).

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Worse still: it’s followed hot on the heels of the West Coast Swing, which wraps with blockbuster events. Most damning? When it’s sandwiched between four purse-heavy behemoths — three Signature Events and The Players — each dangling at least $20 million.

Now, the pros have to choose either to play five straight weeks or take a week off (Cognizant) to prepare for the next best thing.

Not to mention, with the Trump Doral Course back on the schedule with the Cadillac Championship (outside Miami), the Tour might not have space and time for two South Florida events separated by 85 miles.

TGL didn’t help matters either. Just five miles from PGA National, of the 20 golfers playing in that week’s TGL matches, only three decided to play Cognizant. Those four TGL matches featured 13 of the top 30 in the OWGR, including six from the top 10. Zero of them showed up for Cognizant. The fallout? The weakest field since the tournament decamped to PGA National, with an official ranking of 213.1 points, the lowest among PGA Tour events played so far this season.

On top of it, the overseeding of the PGA National caused quite a stir. After Billy Horschel voiced his dissatisfaction, other pros joined, including Shane Lowry. The problem, of course, is that it makes the course easier to play. But none of that makes it as big a problem as the crammed schedule does.

Of course, the Tour can be blamed for this. Since 2023, the Tour has handled day-to-day duties at Cognizant under the Events division. That means, it has plenty of chances to work on a future that does not need to exclude the Cognizant Classic from the schedule. Exactly what most fans want: the event should stay in PGA Tour’s calendar.

Essentially Golf readers want the Cognizant Classic to remain on Tour’s schedule

In our flagship newsletter, Essentially Golf, we asked a very simple question to our readers: “Do You Think Dropping Cognizant Classic Will Be a Mistake by the PGA Tour?”. An overwhelming 75.20% of our readers said the Tour shouldn’t axe it, just fix the scheduling mess. Only 21.29% bought the gripes we laid out above, highlighted by a reader who commented, “The tournament is not needed. Eliminate it.”

The first reader to write in favor of the event wrote, “The problem is not the Cognizant Classic. It is it’s (sic!) schedule. Any tournament in the same situation will suffer. Signature events are canibalizing (sic!) the other events.”

Another reader highlighted a similar issue with the signature events, writing, “Instead of taking away the Cognizant tournament, they should get rid of signature events. How can players improve their status if the number of tournaments they can enter is diminished – also makes it hard to collect FedEx points.”

The discontent against the Signature Events isn’t new. Lucas Glover, who was elected into the PGA Tour Players Advisory Council, called it a “money grab.” This fan’s comment once again showed how far away the PGA Tour is from understanding the fan pulse.

But the question is how can the Cognizant Classic be saved? There are a couple of things the Tour can do: remain exactly where it is in the schedule with other big events switching places. Otherwise, it can be moved to anywhere from February to April, or maybe even fall.

Meanwhile, when it comes to the future of signature events, it is likely they will not be part of the schedule from next season. It might work in Cognizant Classic’s favor but the PGA Tour is also planning to move to major markets like Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia, which means a lot more events are on the chopping block right now.

Cognizant Classic, though? For now, it’s safe for a few more years. The course contract runs through 2028, sponsor is locked in until 2030. There are reasons for the PGA Tour to honor this contract.

One reader opined, “Tournaments like these may not draw big names, but it gives a chance for lesser-known golfers to have their day. Plus, there was some fantastic (and not so fantastic (Shane Lowry) golf played!”

Now, that’s another good point. Surely, the absence of big names like Scottie Scheffler means fewer eyes and fewer fan engagements in comparison to other Tour events. But Shane Lowry’s Sunday meltdown on the Bear Trap, means the PGA National is capable of giving us dramatic rounds.

Not to mention, we get to see lesser-known names in the field. Someone like Ben Silverman, who plays on the Tour on conditional status.

The 38-year-old Tour vet entered Cognizant as the 15th alternate. Waiting on the practice range, just 15 minutes from home, he prayed for that golden call. It hit just before noon when Will Zalatoris withdrew. Silverman was in. For a conditional-status grinder, every start is gold.

He got to play alongside Brooks Koepka on all four days and eventually bagged a T40. Cognizant Classic, love it or loathe it, delivers the chance. The Tour should be aware of that. Then there is the obvious point of charity.

Cognizant Classic’s economic benefit and its ties to Jack Nicklaus

A fourth reader, who is a regular spectator at the tournament, commented, “It does so much for charity and the area. Let the young guys get an opportunity at the event. I’ve been watching and attending it since the 80’s when it was the Honda in Coral Springs.”

That’s a point that even Jack Nicklaus picked up last week. There’s a key reason why Nicklaus is hoping for a positive result, like most of the fans.

Since 2004, Cognizant Classic has teamed with the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation. Lately, Cognizant has chipped in $2 million directly. Per the event’s official site, it’s raised over $75 million for South Florida kids’ charities since 1972.

The tournament, like any other, brings in massive local revenue. The field suffered from lack of big names last year too. Yet last year’s edition drew in around 200,000 spectators. Cognizant Classic also pumped $65 million into local economy last year.

Removing Cognizant Classic will directly work against the fans’ interest.

The Cognizant Classic hit its stride in 2012, when 22-year-old Rory McIlroy outgunned a charging Tiger Woods. Back then, it lured great PGA Tour fields, with fans flocking to watch icons like Woods, McIlroy, and Phil Mickelson. In 2014, it boasted seven of the top 10 golfers in the world. Fast-forward: over the last six years combined, just three top-10 players have teed it up.

It means the Cognizant Classic knows how to make it “big.” It just needs a proper platform.

Clearly, the responsibility now lies in the hands of the PGA Tour and Brian Rolapp, the guy with successful links to the NFL. Yes, it makes sense why he is pushing to move the schedule post Super Bowl, but it’s still rather a very NFL-centric approach taken by the biggest golf stage in the world.

If the Cognizant Classic is removed from the calendar, it will not only alienate the fans, but also prove something worse: the folks at Ponte Vedra clearly don’t have a clue what fans want. Or, worst still, they don’t care.