5 Notable Names Who Missed The Cut At The Cognizant Classic

After 36 holes of the Cognizant Classic, it's Austin Smotherman who leads by three strokes, with the American firing rounds of 62 and 69 to sit 11-under-par.

Despite multiple comments being made about overseeding at PGA National, only one player sits in double digits going into the weekend, with five-under-par currently good enough for a top 10.

Shane Lowry is one of those players currently among a seven-way tie at five-under, which also includes Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship winner, Aaron Rai.

A number of notable players also made the weekend in Florida, but several big names failed to make it to the level-par cutline, with Major champions and recent PGA Tour winners among them.

Check out the notable names who failed to make the cut at the Cognizant Classic below...

Michael Thorbjornsen (+1)

Thorbjornsen came into the tournament as one of the favorites following a T3rd at the WM Phoenix Open and a T18th at the Farmers Insurance Open, but his recent good form didn't make it to Florida.

Carding a one-over-par first round 72, the American backed it up with a level-par 71 on Friday, which included a costly bogey at the final hole. That bogey meant he missed the weekend by one.

Luke Clanton (+1)

Clanton had been predicted to go well in this event, given he's a Florida-native and that PGA National is the American's home course.

However, the 22-year-olds struggles in 2026 continued as he carded rounds of 73 and 70 to miss the cut by one. Having withdrawn from The American Express in January, Clanton has missed every weekend this season, missing the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Farmers Insurance Open and this week's Cognizant Classic.

Gary Woodland (+2)

Woodland may be near the top of the Driving Distance charts, but the American was unable to put that to use around a tough PGA National on Thursday and Friday.

Producing back-to-back 72s, the former US Open winner missed his third cut of the season, having failed to make the weekend at the Sony Open in Hawaii and Farmers Insurance Open.

Blades Brown (+5)

Brown is predicted to be a future star in the game but, at the Cognizant Classic, he wasn't at his best as he fired rounds of 75 and 72 to finish five-over-par.

Producing three top 25s this year, including being in contention at The American Express on the PGA Tour, we'll see the 18-year-old at more tournaments going forward, as he received a sponsor's invite into next week's Puerto Rico Open, as well as the Valspar Championship in March.

Sami Valimaki (+9)

An uncharacteristic nine-over first round of 80 put Valimaki well down the leaderboard and, although he was nine shots better on Friday, he missed the cut comfortably.

Claiming the RSM Classic at the end of last year, the Finn has produced three missed cuts in 2026, with the others coming at The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open.