The PGA Tour feels more like a two-tour system than ever this week with the transition from the $20m Genesis Invitational to the $9.6m Cognizant Classic.
While the purse at PGA National is less than half of last week's one in LA and there are almost half the world ranking points available to the winner (38 vs 69 last time out), it is the differences in field that really tell the story of what the PGA Tour looks like in 2026.
The Genesis Invitational featured all of the world's top ten, 18 of the top 20 and 41 of the top 50, packed into its 72-man field. Max Homa at World No.148 was the lowest-ranked player.
The contrast to the line-up for this week's Classic makes for quite shocking reading, especially for tournament sponsor Cognizant.
There are no players inside the world's top 20 teeing it up in Palm Beach Gardens following Ben Griffin and Jacob Bridgeman withdrawing, with World No.26 Ryan Gerard the top-ranked player. The event took another blow when Adam Scott became the latest big name to withdraw.
Gerard is one of just 14 men playing both the Cognizant and the Genesis, so 58 of the 72-man field from last week have opted to skip the first event of the Florida Swing.
There are nine top-50 players competing and 29 of the world's top 100 compared to 69 last week. World No.4,930 Justin Hicks is the lowest-ranked player.
A total of 105 players in the Cognizant field did not qualify for the Genesis, with this week's event truly resembling a second-tier line-up.
The reason for such a 'weak' field is clear, with the Cognizant occupying a very difficult spot in the calendar.
We've just had back-to-back Signature Events with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational, and there's another one next week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
That takes place directly before the Tour's flagship event, the $25m Players Championship, making the Cognizant Classic the perfect time for the top players to take a break.
Florida native Billy Horschel, who is in the field this week after not qualifying for the Genesis Invitational, admitted it is an issue when speaking to media after his TGL match on Monday.
"Listen, it's tough with any tournament on the PGA Tour schedule, outside of Signature Events, due to a multitude of reasons," he said.
"We had this issue before the Signature Events were around. We've always had this issue.
"A decade ago this event was unbelievable with the field, but where it fell in the schedule was really good for a lot of the guys that lived here. It wasn't on the back end of an LA or a Riviera.
"This field has sort of been up and down the last couple years. When you've got so many events on the PGA Tour schedule and you've got guys trying to figure out where they're going to fit, it's tough to fill a field.
"It's just tough. It's just not Cognizant; there's a whole bunch of other tournaments that are struggling."
Justin Thomas agreed with Horschel's words.
"It's a bummer. It's one of those events that it has fallen at an unfortunate time in the schedule," the 16-time PGA Tour winner said.
"I think it's both a great thing and a bad thing of our schedule, how great it is and the amount of great golf courses that we go to.
"It's unfortunate. It's a great, great problem to have, but it is, it's just one of those things the way that guys need to play certain events or feel like they give themselves the best opportunity to win and make the most points as possible. It's just kind of where it falls kind of thing."
There are set to be huge changes coming to the PGA Tour schedule courtesy of new CEO Brian Rolapp and the Tiger Woods-chaired Future Competitions Committee, and it's weeks like this that will be coming under the microscope.
Reports state the Hawaii events are disappearing and the Tour is looking at a post-Super Bowl start to the season, with Rolapp preaching the word 'scarcity'. There have also been murmurings of every PGA Tour event carrying the same purse and points, which signals the end of Signature Events.
It has been clear for years the PGA Tour needs to streamline its schedule, and the introduction of Signature Events has only made the lesser events stand out more.
While it's clear the Cognizant Classic is now a second-tier event, it does still have a field packed full of PGA Tour players and many recognizable names who will be fighting hard for a potentially career-changing victory over an iconic course with that demanding 'Bear Trap' finish.
Brooks Koepka's return has added interest and intrigue to the full-field tournaments, as have the Korn Ferry Tour and DP World Tour graduates. Organizers will be hoping for a tight leaderboard heading into the final round, and there's every chance of that coming to fruition.
Die-hard golf fans will be tuning in as ever, but the casuals may look elsewhere without the likes of McIlroy, Scheffler, Fleetwood and co. teeing it up - and that will be seen in the TV ratings.
It's certainly an issue Rolapp needs to fix, and all the signs seem like that is in the works.
