As the halfway point approaches at the first round of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, players are absolutely tearing up the golf course.
Earlier, Jake Knapp shot a 12-under 59. There have now been 15 sub-60 rounds in the history of the PGA Tour, though there had never been one in Florida.
Historically, PGA National has played as one of the most difficult courses on the PGA Tour. This year, however, the course has offered little more than target practice for the professionals.
In the early going, the scoring average is an unbelievable 3.32 strokes under par. For reference, the easiest regular PGA Tour course is TPC Craig Ranch, home of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. The scoring average for Craig Ranch historically is 2.76 strokes under par. Therefore, PGA National in Round 1 is playing more than a half shot easier than the easiest course on Tour.
Speaking after his superb round of 8-under 63, Daniel Berger mentioned the course playing easier than usual.
“I thought I played well, but then someone shot 59,” he said. Clearly the course was not the old Bear
Trap that we're used to.
“It's playing soft and short, and the greens are perfect.”
Billy Horschel also opened solidly with a 5-under 66, but lamented the shift from a test to, for one day at least, a track meet.
“It’s just a little disappointing because it’s such a great test of golf," said Horschel, who is playing in the tournament for the 13th time. “I think the overseed has—the rough is not long enough. It’s not penal enough when you miss the fairway.”
“I really wish we would just play this as a straight Bermuda. From tee to green, everything be straight Bermuda. I know it doesn’t look prettier on TV and I know that’s one of the reasons why it’s overseeded.”
Here are how the scoring averages to par have played out year by year at PGA National since 2017.
Prior to 2024, the par-4 10th was turned into a par-5, which is why the scoring average went down. This year, the soft conditions caused by rainfall early in the week and lack of wind certainly have contributed to lower scores, but it would have been difficult to predict just how low.
The once-feared “Bear Trap” of holes 15, 16 and 17 are all playing under par to an average of -0.11, -0.17 and -0.16.
“Listen, it’s three days left. Hopefully the wind picks up,” Horschel said. “Hopefully we see a little bit of PGA National because it is fun playing this golf course when it’s tough. I think a lot of us do enjoy it. I think Sepp (Straka) and I talked about that and Cam Young. We all three talked about how enjoyable it is to play a really tough golf course and not have to feel like you’ve got to go shoot 5-, 6-, 7-under par. Normally 2, 3 under is a really good round here.”
Conditions should get somewhat tougher as the week goes on, but PGA National’s reputation as one of the toughest tracks on Tour will certainly take a hit in 2025.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as PGA National Failing to Put Up a Fight As Players Go Low Early at Cognizant Classic.
