It was a quick Saturday at PGA National, with play finishing at approximately 2:25 PM, nearly three hours earlier than scheduled due to forecasted rain later in the day. The favorable conditions allowed both the leaders and the lower half of the field to post some low numbers on moving day.
None were bigger, however, than Shane Lowry’s bogey-free 63, which vaulted him five spots up the leaderboard into a tie for first with Austin Smotherman.
It will be a long night for Smotherman, the former First Tee member, as he sleeps on the lead for the first time in his PGA Tour career.
55 feet to tie the lead!
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 27, 2026
Austin Smotherman is searching for his first career win and just birdied the hardest hole this week @The_Cognizant.
📺 Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/CmyGOin3VD
Patton Kizzire also turned in a stellar round, carding an eagle along with six birdies and no bogeys, good enough to tie Lowry for the low round of the day and move into the top 10 on the leaderboard.
Despite this week’s Cognizant Classic featuring one of the weaker fields of the season, Sunday should deliver a compelling finish. With high winds in the forecast, and an extremely difficult finish, all the ingredients are ready for some Sunday drama in Palm Beach.
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