2024 Cognizant Classic odds, predictions: Picks and best bets for this week's PGA Tour event from a golf expert

The Florida Swing of the 2024 PGA Tour season kicks off this week when a full field tees off at the 2024 Cognizant Classic beginning on Thursday at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The Sunshine State will host a PGA Tour event each of the next four weeks. This week, world No. 2 Rory McIlroy is the overwhelming favorite in the 2024 Cognizant Classic odds at +700. Cameron Young (+2200), Russell Henley (+2500), Eric Cole (+2500), Matt Fitzpatrick (+2800), Tom Kim (+2800) and Byeong Hun An (+2800) round out the top seven choices in the Cognizant Classic field.

Before locking in any 2024 Cognizant Classic picks, make sure you see the PGA Tour predictions and best bets from golf betting and fantasy expert Sia Nejad.

Nejad specializes in betting and DFS in golf, among other sports. He's had incredible success in the outright and first-round leader markets and in betting head-to-head matchups. He also has been on fire with his head-to-head matchups since last year's Charles Schwab Challenge, going 32-18-1 and returning 10.70 units over that span. That's a $1,070 profit for $100 bettors since May 2023.

Nejad also nailed 75-1 longshot Wyndham Clark as the outright winner at the Wells Fargo Championship. In 2023, SportsLine debuted "The Early Wedge," and in the first three months of the show, he hit two first-round leaders and three outright winners.

Now, Nejad has been digging into the 2024 Cognizant Classic field to find the best value and just locked in his best bets and favorites to avoid.

One surprise: Nejad is completely fadingRory McIlroy, even though he is the overwhelming favorite at +700. However, Nejad is high on the chances of Keith Mitchell, who's a +3500 longshot. "He won this tournament in 2019, was ninth in 2022 and has a game that is really coming around, particularly in the ball-striking department," Nejad told SportsLine.

Moreover, Nejad is jumping on several underdogs, including one longshot who's priced at more than 50-1. This player "is gaining strokes across all metrics in a big way" and is a longshot who could surprise. If he does, you could cash in HUGE. You need to see who it is before locking in any 2024 Cognizant Classic picks of your own.