The executive director of Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches was among the PGA Tour staff members who were laid off April 23.
Todd Fleming, who was hired in February 2024 to run Cognizant, was among the 56 employees who lost their jobs. A Tour spokesperson told The Palm Beach Post this is not an indication Cognizant’s future is in jeopardy.
The Tour is making plans for the Cognizant Classic to be held in 2027.
The layoffs included other PGA Tour employees who assisted at Cognizant. The Tour will announce an interim executive director for Cognizant within weeks. The dates of the 2027 event also will be announced soon.
Fleming was hired soon after the PGA Tour’s Championship Management division — now PGA Tour Events — took over the day-to-day operations of the tournament held at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens and after Cognizant was signed as the title sponsor.
Joie Chitwood ran the 2024 event as the interim executive director before Fleming took over and headed the last two tournaments.
What is the future of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches?
Still, the future of the Cognizant Classic remains uncertain. Although PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp offered an outline in March of the Tour’s future schedule, he did not get into specifics.
That, though, should come in two months.
The schedule will include two tiers with up to 26 events, including at least 16 Signature Events with 120-player fields and a cut – along with The Players Championship, the majors and the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.
The second-tier tournaments will include fields similar to those on the Tour’s current opposite events like the Puerto Rico Open, Myrtle Beach Classic and Barracuda Championship.
Cognizant is a candidate for either tier, meaning it could return to the elite event it was 10 to 15 years ago when it was known as the Honda Classic, or be reduced to the second tier with far less significance.
The tournament’s fate is expected to be learned the week of June 22 at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn., when Rolapp will address the new schedule. That schedule, for the most part, will be implemented in 2028.
The Tour’s contract with PGA National runs through 2028. More importantly, the deal with Cognizant runs through 2030. Both could impact the immediate future of Cognizant.
The Cognizant Classic has suffered greatly in recent years, mostly the fault of the PGA Tour for putting it in an unfavorable spot in the schedule.
Rolapp sent an e-mail to staff explaining the decision on the layoffs on April 23. The layoffs represent about 4% of total staff, which is about 1,300 globally.
According to Sports Business Journal, 73 open roles that had been posted will not be filled and the Tour plans to reallocate some of the lost positions and reinvest in 30-plus new full-time roles, including some senior-level jobs.
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Cognizant Classic director among PGA Tour cuts; what is event future?
Reporting by Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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