The first few large-field designated events were a big success and now the PGA TOUR will head to PGA National to kick off the Florida Swing.
There is an obvious drop in field strength but that’s to be expected when you just played back-to-back big events. Most superstars just won’t put three straight events on their calendars. Still, there are plenty of notables in the field this week with Sungjae Im, Billy Horschel, and Shane Lowry headlining the field from an OWGR point-of-view. There are a few DP World Tour stars trying to make their name on the big stage (Min Woo Lee and Adrian Meronk) and plenty of others looking for their breakout wins.
The field is 144 golfers to start the week while the Low 65 and Ties will make it through the 36-hole cutline.
The Course
The Champion Course at PGA National is the host course this week. It’s been playing that role since the 2007 edition of the Honda Classic.
This Fazio design was opened in 1981 and was reworked by Jack Nicklaus in 2002.
Looking at the scorecard we see a par 70 that plays to 7,125 yards.
There is a good blend of short and long holes but only two par 5s to feast on and neither is very generous in giving out eagles.
A big theme of the week is water with hazards in play on 15 holes, including the 15-16-17 stretch we all know as The Bear Trap.
With very few eagle opportunities and a lot of big numbers lurking, it’s no surprise to see this is one of the toughest scoring environments among non-major venues.
Off the tee, golfers are often taking less than driver and then aiming away from flags with their second shots and hoping to roll in a few putts or grind away with par after par if the putter goes cold. Add in typically windy conditions during the event, and it often turns into a scramble fest.
After a few months out West, many Southerners are happy to see bermudagrass turf this week. The greens were relaid with fresh TifEagle bermuda back in 2018 so they’ve had plenty of time to settle in by now.
Course Quotes
Sifting through some past quotes, let’s try to break down the course to see how it will play.
Sepp Straka in 2022: “It’s right there in front of you. I mean you basically try not to hit it in the water. You just pick your safe targets and you hit an aggressive shot at your safe targets and that’s kind of the key.”
Cameron Tringale in 2020: “The wind out here is always the biggest defense. This golf course with all the run-offs, it’s a second-shot golf course.”
Tommy Fleetwood in 2020: “The wind is a massive factor all the way around the golf course. I feel like there’s so many cross-winds which bring misses off the tee, into the greens, cross-winds affect the putts, and it’s just an all-around very, very difficult test, and it tests everyone. It tests every part of your game.”
There is typically no hiding from the wind here. Even a 10 to 15 MPH breeze will add enough doubt to make things interesting, considering you have water to deal with in 15 holes.
Correlated Courses
Using historical data we can look at overperformance and underperformance at this week’s host course and compare that to all of the courses played out on TOUR. Here are the ones that shared a lot of overlap:
Sedgefield CC
Harbour Town GL
Detroit GC
PGA WEST Rota
The importance of around-the-green play is probably the most prevalent theme linking these courses with a little less emphasis on driver performance.
The Weather
Thursday: Sunny with a high of 86 degrees. Winds at 10 to 16 MPH.
Friday: Sunny with a high of 85 degrees. Winds at 7 to 17 MPH.
It’s looking like a relatively calm week by PGA National standards but we still have a few more days to see if Mother Nature ramps up the wind machine.