Two of the biggest factors for players when trying to put together their PGA Tour schedule are where the event falls on the calendar and the golf course used for the tournament.
Usually one of those can be overcome—but not both.
And it doesn’t take a lot to figure out why some events simply don’t attract a strong field. Either the golf course is unpopular or, perhaps more importantly, the tournament simply comes at a bad time as it relates to the rest of the schedule.
The just-completed Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches—formerly the Honda Classic—presents an interesting case in this regard.
Preceding the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship—and for a time coming directly after the Genesis Invitational—was a horrific spot for a tournament that has more than 50 years of history.
But even prior to the latest scheduling issues, the tournament was suffering from problems that caused players to give it a second look.
Specifically, the PGA National Champions course and some of its attributes such as very difficult rough, a contrived “more strenuous” scoring test due to changing two par-5s to par-4s and making it a par-70, and the ill-fated attempt to turn a difficult par-3 17th hole into the 16th at the WM Phoenix Open.
There are all kind of anecdotal examples of players skipping the event for various reasons, made more glaring by the fact that so many of them live in the area near the Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., course.
So it was interesting when Jake Knapp opened the tournament with a 59 and the scoring was low and the otherwise beastly PGA National turned tame. What happened?
Well, in a few words, the tournament organizers listened to players who gave their feedback and initiated some changes. And perhaps they went too far.
“That’s why they’re trying to make it easier, they’re trying to get people to play, which I think is the wrong thing to do,” Shane Lowry told the Palm Beach Post last week. “You know, I’m not the one setting up the golf course.”
For the fourth time in the last five years, the tournament had no player ranked among the current top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking. And it was the first event all year in which not a single top 15 player entered.
Some of that is down to scheduling for sure. But it also clearly goes back to reputation.
Rory McIlroy, who lives in the area, has played the tournament just once in the last six years. Justin Thomas has skipped it six straight years but has traditionally played the next three events on the PGA Tour schedule, all in Florida. Two years ago, the last as the Honda Classic, the event had just eight of the top 50 in the OWGR.
It perhaps is one of the reasons why after more than 40 years, Honda moved on.
And so tournament organizers asked around and made changes.
They decided to cut the rough on a course that has water on 16 of 18 holes. They moved up the tee on the par-3 17th and reduced some of the grandstands near the tee box, where spectators were screaming in the ears of players trying to hit a tricky shot over water to a hole playing more than 180 yards.
And last year, they returned the 10th hole to a par-5, turning it from a tough par-4 into a an easy three-shot hole that most players were probably birdieing.
Going from a par-70 to a par-71 gives the “appearance” at least of easier scoring.
“They stepped it up,” said Lucas Glover prior to the tournament. “A lot of things the players have been suggesting over the years were finally put into play. Whether that will help this year, I don’t know.”
Some of what Glover was referring to was off-the-course issues.
But perhaps the step that went too far was the overseeding of the fairways and this year with rye grass. That is a common occurrence at Florida golf courses in the winter, meant to give a green appearance as the Bermuda fairways and rough go dormant when the temperatures are cooler.
It can also lead to some easier conditions. The dormant Bermuda is a difficult surface, especially for chipping. And due to watering needs, it means the course will play softer.
“I didn’t realize that it was overseeded, and the fairways being overseeded changes it a lot because it’ll make the fairways softer which makes them wider, and then around the greens it’s significantly easier than the dormant Bermuda,” said Jordan Spieth, who was playing the course for the first time as a pro. “You’re looking at easily a stroke a round on just the change in the grass types in the fairway.”
The 36-hole cut came at 5 under par, which is unheard of for PGA National. It led to a lot of griping about the course being too easy. Tournament winner Joe Highsmith shot 64-64 on the weekend after making the cut on the number at 5 under par.
And let’s face it, fans like to see these guys struggle once in a while, one of the traits of PGA National, especially when it is windy.
Calm weather also led to easier scoring, something that can’t be helped.
The Tour moves on to the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a signature event that three years ago saw Scottie Scheffler win with a winning total of just 283, 5 under par. He won at 15 under last year, showing just how much weather can dictate.
And following the Players Championship, the Valspar Championship will head to Innisbrook, where a rye grass overseed has been in place for this date, but where the rough is also generally very difficult and the players for the most part praise the layout.
At PGA National, the simple answer might just be to be careful what you wish for. The tournament organizers made changes, not all of which have been well-received.
The Open and Turnberry
It came as little surprise earlier this year when the R&A announced the Old Course at St. Andrews as the venue for the 2027 British Open. Getting the most popular location back into the rotation just five years after the last playing there was all but inevitable.
In doing so, the organization that runs the tournament as well as serving as governing body for the game outside the United States and Mexico further delayed a return to Turnberry, which is now looking at going at least 19 years between Opens—and likely longer—with the next open date in 2028.
Also coming as little surprise is that President Trump would lobby U.K. leaders to use their influence to get the course he bought in 2014 in the conversation. He’s been angling to get the championship back there ever since, his Trump Organization spending some $200 million to upgrade the facility, including an impressive architectural change to some of the holes along the water which makes perhaps the most visually appealing course of the 10 in the rotation even more so.
Of course, there is a lot more that goes into these decisions.
R&A officials were none too pleased to see Trump take the spotlight when he helicoptered in to Turnberry in 2015 during the playing of the Women’s British Open. And after he became President following the 2016 election, they became concerned that the focus could not be on golf if he were to show up during the championship.
Those concerns were magnified following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. capital, one that quickly caused the R&A to retreat even more.
In 2022, the organization again distanced itself from returning to Turnberry, also noting the venue’s revenue and logistical shortfalls. And late last year, near the end of his term as CEO, Martin Slumbers made it pretty clear to Golf Channel.
“We cannot allow external media noise to overshadow what remains the original and most historic championship in golf,” Slumbers said. “The tournament’s integrity demands that golf alone commands the spotlight.”
Finances matter, too.
Slumbers’s successor, Mark Darbon, told the Telegraph last week that Turnberry has provided the organization one of its smaller revenue hauls among the 10 venues.
“That’s crucial for us, because through the Open, we generate most of our revenue and we use that to invest in the rest of the game all around the world,” Darbon said. “So the reality is that modern-day Open requires a venue that can support us logistically and commercially.”
The Open has been played at Turnberry just four times, the last in 2009 when Tom Watson at age 59 was the story of the event, losing to Stewart Cink in a playoff. Watson won the first Turnberry Open played in 1977, the famous Duel in the Sun with Jack Nicklaus.
Greg Norman won the 1986 tournament there and Nick Price won in 1994.
Back then, Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland—this year’s venue—wasn’t an option. Also, Royal Liverpool had not hosted the Open since 1967 until it did so again in 2006. It has since been the site for three Opens.
Those venues have emerged as big money-makers for the R&A, along with St. Andrews and next year’s venue, Royal Birkdale.
To further the point, one of the great courses of all time, Muirfield, has not hosted the championship since 2013 due to its relatively poor attendance—less than attended Ernie Els’s win in 2002.
Royal Lytham, where Els won in 2012, has also not gotten a return Open, despite an impressive history. Bobby Jones won his first Claret Jug there in 1926. Seve Ballesteros won there twice.
So Turnberry is not alone.
The bottom line appears to matter more than ever. That puts St. Andrews, Royal Portrush, Royal Birkdale, Royal Liverpool, Royal St. George’s and Royal Troon at the top of the list. And it makes places such as Carnoustie, Royal Lytham, Muirfield and Turnberry vulnerable to rare appearances.
The sponsor exemption dilemma
There is a strong argument to be made that the signature events should have no invites, that the limited-field big-money events should be fields based on qualification only.
The top 50 from last year’s FedEx Cup, the top 10 in the current FedEx Cup, the top five in a recent series of events, current-year tournament winners, top 30 in the OWGR ... those are the present qualifying criteria.
But there are also four sponsor invites, a somewhat controversial aspect to the system. Last year, when players such as Webb Simpson and Adam Scott kept getting invites, there were some raised eyebrows.
Same this year for Jordan Spieth, who missed out on the top 50 last year after dealing with a wrist injury and then having offseason surgery. Spieth got invites to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as well as the Genesis Invitational.
But it was interesting when last week Spieth entered the Cognizant Classic at the last minute, joining a tournament he had not played as a pro. It was an indication that perhaps an invite wasn’t coming to the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week. And it turned out to be correct.
“I feel really good,” Spieth said after a tie for ninth at the Cognizant Classic. “The Players (next week), I’ve got to be more patient than I have in other years. And then Tampa (the Valspar Championship) will be good.
“I’m bummed not to be there next week (at the Arnold Palmer Invitational). It’s been a great, great place for me and I really wish I was getting that start. But I needed to play better injured golf last year, I guess.”
Perhaps that was a veiled shot of frustration from Spieth, who undoubtedly felt he had a strong case to be invited. There’s always the “play better” mantra and Spieth had the chance to qualify via the Aon Swing Five or FedEx Cup list.
But it is somewhat surprising that the API didn’t invite him or another popular player who has supported the event, Rickie Fowler. Both are considered “draws” and that is part of the point of sponsor invites. Fowler, especially, served as a defacto ambassador for a time when the event was leaning on various players in the aftermath of Palmer’s death.
And yet, sponsor exemptions are just that—invites given on behalf of the sponsor to use as they see fit.
In the case of signature events, they must go to existing PGA Tour members. The Arnold Palmer offered its spots to a couple of surprising players in that Rafael Campos (who won in Bermuda last year) and Mackenzie Hughes are not exactly big ticket draws.
Min Woo Lee got a spot as did Justin Rose, who has an endorsement deal with MasterCard, the event’s presenting sponsor. (A fifth spot went to amateur Jackson Koivun, who won the Palmer Cup.)
It isn’t exactly how you’d draw it up, but that is the choice of the sponsor.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as PGA National Has Become Easier, But That May Not Be Ideal for the Tour.
