Billy Horschel sounds off on ‘disappointing’ tour event

Thursday was a good day for Jake Knapp but a tough one for PGA National.

The Champion Course at the Florida resort, safeguarded by its ‘Bear Trap’, played unlike it ever has on the opening day of the Cognizant Classic.

Knapp, 30, carded the 15th ever sub-60 round in the history of the PGA Tour thanks to a flawless effort which included no fewer than 12 (TWELVE!) birdies and six pars.

Yet it caused quite a stir.

See, the original Jack Nicklaus design has largely been considered one of the toughest tests on the PGA Tour, with South Florida winds wreaking havoc and penalty areas lurking throughout.

But, as called by the brilliant Monday Q account on X, Knapp’s -12 first round tied or beat the winning score in 17 of the last 24 Honda Classics.

That’s why Billy Horschel, who finished the day on five-under-par, later took aim at the set-up.

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“It is a little disappointing that, I’d say the condition of the course is very scorable,” Horschel said.

“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, 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.

“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.”

Horschel embraced Knapp after the round and even shared his disbelief that a score like his would be possible at PGA National.

“That’s some good playing,” he said. “I mean I didn’t think I would have said 59 was ever going to happen at PGA National.

“I would have put a lot of money on it. I felt like I shot 4-over seeing what you shot.”

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Meanwhile, Spieth – who is making his debut in the event this week – shot a six-under 65 and pointed out why it was so straightforward.

“I thought from a course setup they weren’t many of the hardest pins on the golf course,” he said. “A lot of them were in gettable locations, and then we didn’t have any wind, so it was a beautiful morning.”

Joel Dahmen, another in the field, posted on X before his round: “I miss the old PGA National.”

Of the 144 players in the line-up, only 22 finished the first round over par. A total of 115 players carded an under-par score.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.