Normally a five-under-par round of 66 at PGA National would be leading the old Honda Classic or as it’s known now, the Cognizant Classic but when Billy Horschel signed his card he found himself seven shots off the lead and very underwhelmed by the whole experience.
Normally one of the toughest stops on the PGA Tour, the golf course lay down on Thursday. In admittedly perfect weather conditions with little wind, 115 players were under par in the first round, with fifteen of them shooting 65 or better.
Overseeding the Bermuda grass with rye has made the golf course much softer and the rough less penal than in previous years and single digits under par often good enough to reign supreme after 72 holes, Horschel expects a record winning score and Jake Knapp’s opening course record of 59 is an indication of what is to come over the weekend.
“Yeah, there was no wind so it helps tremendously,” said Horschel who also fought off an alligator during his round. “You’ve got to tip your hat to him (Knapp). He shot a 12-under par 59 at PGA National, which no one ever thought. I know we had a discussion earlier this week and I’ve probably changed my tune a little bit. 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.
“But it is unfortunate because for me, growing up in Florida, the one advantage I have is being born and raised on Bermuda grass and understanding the intricacies of playing on Bermuda grass and chipping off it and judging the lie out of it. I don’t have that advantage as maybe someone playing out in California on poa annua greens, feeling comfortable on poa annua greens.
“So it is a little disappointing that — I’d say the condition of the course is very scorable, but at the same time, you’ve still got to go out there, you’ve still got to hit golf shots, you’ve still got to make putts. But this will be, right now, if scoring sort of stays the way it is going into the afternoon, I’m going to suspect because there’s not much wind projected this afternoon, this will be the lowest scoring average in the history of this tournament by I’m going to say a shot and a half.
“Listen, it’s three days left. Hopefully the wind picks up. 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 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.”
Horschel wasn’t the only one to express his disappointment over the facile nature of the golf course setup with Jordan Spieth also weighing in on the generously wide fairways and soft greens.
“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,” noted Jordan Spieth.
“You’re looking at easily a stroke a round on just the change in the grass types in the fairway.”
“I thought I played well, but then someone shot 59,” said Daniel Berger after shooting 63 who felt the famed Bear Trap became a mouse trap.
“The course was not the old Bear Trap we’re used to.”
Joel Dahmen took to X and summed it up with a short and sweet statement: “I miss the old PGA National.”
We all do, Joel.
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