The famous ‘Bear Trap’ at PGA National, which has frustrated players for years, has become a big, snuggable teddy bear.
Gone are the days when this course flexed its teeth, when any player would gladly take any score under par. This is no longer the case because course officials overseeded the fairways and greens before this year’s tournament, doing so for the first time since 2014. They also removed some bunkers.
As Jordan Spieth explained, “overseeding changes [the course] 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.”
“You’re looking at easily a stroke a round on just the change in the grass types in the fairway.”
Thursday’s morning wave produced record-low scoring at the Cognizant Classic. Jake Knapp fired a 59, and 12 other players posted rounds of 65 or better. Every time you blinked, another player made a birdie somewhere.
“Doesn’t really surprise me,” said Russell Henley when talking about Knapp’s 59.
“When the wind is down like this, I think it’s definitely gettable. But it doesn’t matter what the condition is. Anytime you shoot 59, it’s great, and it’s unbelievable.”
Knapp now has the course record at PGA National and signed for the first sub-60 round in any PGA Tour event played in Florida, per Justin Ray. His 59 is also the 15th sub-60 score in PGA Tour history.
“I thought I played well, but then someone shot 59,” said Daniel Berger, who posted an 8-under 63.
“The course was not the old Bear Trap we’re used to.”
Billy Horschel, who encountered an alligator midway through his round, agreed and expressed his disappointment with the setup.
“The rough is not long enough. It’s not penal enough when you miss the fairway,” Horschel said.
“I really wish we would just play this as a straight Bermuda. From tee to green, everything should 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 Bermudagrass, understanding the intricacies of playing on Bermudagrass, 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.
“It is a little disappointing. I’d say the condition of the course is very scoreable, but at the same time, you’ve still got to go out there, hit golf shots, and 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.”
Michael Kim, who has played well over the past month, shot a 6-under 65 on Thursday.
“Big rye overseed and no wind make this course much easier but did not think I’d be 6 shots back after a 65,” Kim posted on X after his round.
Kim will likely not even be among the top-10 after the first round concludes.
Added Joel Dahmen on X:
“I miss the old PGA National.”
Last year, Austin Eckroat won by three shots at 17-under par. The year before, Chris Kirk and Eric Cole finished at 14-under and Kirk went on to win in a playoff. No champion posted a 72-hole score lower than 12-under in the 12 tournaments played between 2011 and 2022.
Knapp is already there after day one, with many other players lurking deep in red figures.
“It’s just a little disappointing because it’s such a great test of golf, and like I said, the conditions, no wind, we’ve had rain this week, which makes it softer. But I think if you add the Bermuda factor in — if you had Bermuda rough and Bermuda fairways and if you missed the green you had to chip it off Bermuda instead of overseeded rye, it makes it a little bit tougher,” Horschel added.
“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 [Straka] and I talked about that and Cam Young. 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.”
Not anymore.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
