PGA Tour pros criticize easy course conditions at PGA National

PGA National Champion Course, home of the Bear Trapit used to be one of the most dreaded annual tests on the PGA Tour. Not so anymore.

Over the past few years, a key course maintenance decision has taken the bite out of the course. The result? Winning results in the cognitive classic have come to heaven.

And some PGA Tour veterans aren’t happy about it. Billy Horschel took to social media to voice his displeasure and explain who is to blame for the light conditions at PGA National, while Shane Lowry broached the subject during his pre-tournament press conference.

Here’s what you need to know.

Why Cognizant Classic winning scores have skyrocketed

When the Cognizant Classic, then known as the Honda Classic, moved to PGA National’s Champions Course in 2007, it immediately proved a tough challenge for the PGA Tour’s best. Look no further than winning results.

Mark Wilson won the inaugural PGA National Honda Classic with a final score of five under. In the 2008 Honda, Ernie Else finished at six under to take home the trophy.

From 2007-2020, only three Honda Classics finished with a winning score in double digits below the norm. Camilo Villegas shot 13 under in 2010, five strokes better than runner-up Anthony Kim. Rory McIlroy shot 12 under for his 2012 win, two strokes better than co-runner-up Tiger Woods. Rickie Fowler matched McIlroy’s winning score in 2017 by a four-stroke margin. All other winning scores during that stretch were in single digits under par.

But as the new decade began, something changed at PGA National. Suddenly, all the winning scores were double digits below par. Over the past three years, the problem has worsened.

Chris Kirk won in a playoff in 2023 after tying Eric Cole through 72 holes at 14 under. In 2024, Austin Eckroat shot 17 under to win Cognizant. last year, Joe Highsmith shot a 19-under 265 to capture the victory.

So what gives? According to some PGA Tour players, the culprit is a course maintenance decision. While PGA National features mostly Bermuda grass on its surfaces, as do many courses in Florida, in recent years, Bermuda has been overlaid with rye grass in the winter.

While the overlay makes the course look better, it also makes it much easier for players to navigate shots from the rough than if the grass were just Bermuda. This makes the risk of losing greens or greens much less severe.

As a result, players have started going down easily during the Cognizant Classic.

Billy Horschel blames PGA National for overseeing the course

Horschel, an eight times PGA Tour winner, has plenty of experience playing PGA National on Tour. In his long career, Horschel has made 13 starts in the Cognizant Classic/Honda Classic.

In his first 11 PGA National events, Horschel’s best score was 7 under in 2017, which earned him a T4. His next best score during that stretch was 2 under.

But in 2024, Horschel reached a final score of 12 under. However, unlike McIlroy in 2012 and Fowler in 2017, who won by the same score, Horschel finished T9, five shots off the lead.

On Wednesday, Horschel publicly shared his opinion on the recent changes at PGA National on social media.

In responses to an X video discussing the Cognizant Classic and PGA National, Horschel responded to a user who called the champion’s course oversight a “disgrace.”

In his response, Horschel laid the blame for the oversight issue at the feet of the “owners of PGA National.” According to Horschel, the PGA Tour would prefer the course not be overcrowded, but it’s not up to them.

“Unfortunately, it’s not the (PGA) Tour’s fault. The owners of PGA National do. The Tour has tried to state why it shouldn’t overlap, but at the end of the day it’s out of their hands,” Horschel wrote.

He went on to argue that the PGA Tour should fight for “complete control” over host courses in the future.

“One thing we need to do going forward is make sure we have full control of the setup of all the Tour’s courses,” he wrote.

Shane Lowry at PGA National: ‘It was a little too easy last year’

After a number of withdrawals before the tournament, Shane Lowry is probably the first the biggest star yet in the Cognizant Classic field. As a local resident, Lowry appreciates the event, its host course and the ability to sleep at home and spend time with his family during tournament week.

He explained as much in his press conference on Wednesday at the Cognizant Classic. But he also spoke in detail about the easier course conditions in recent years.

“I like that the rough is a little thicker this year. It was a little too easy last year, I thought,” Lowry began. “I don’t want to see exactly 59 here, but yeah, I hope the scoring is a little harder this year and plays like it used to.”

Lowry explained that when he first moved to Florida, he had a hard time adjusting to playing Bermuda grass, joking, “I wish it was overlapping back then.”

Then a reporter asked Lowry how different PGA National’s current setup is from the heyday of single-digit winning scores.

“Yeah, I don’t think so. I think it’s probably—maybe it’ll play easier than that, which I don’t like. I’d rather see it—look, I’m a member of a few courses down here, and all Bermuda, and the golf courses this time of year are incredible. The Bermuda golf courses, he said, are unfit.”

He concluded: “I feel like it’s going to look great on TV. It’s going to be lovely and green. It’s going to be amazing. But maybe I’d like to see a bit more of the old traditional structure. It is what it is this week, and you just have to deal with the cards you’re dealt.”

You can check out Cognizant 2026 opening round classical on Golf Channel beginning at 2:00 PM ET on Thursday.