PGA Tour Should Have 'Complete Control' Of Course Setup As PGA National Overseeding Divides Players

The Cognizant Classic has a couple of problems such as this year's field and being in a tough spot in the schedule, and the overseeding at PGA National has been discussed as another issue.

PGA National was fully overseeded last year and that saw Joe Highsmith win with a record low score of 19 under at the Palm Beach Gardens course, while Jake Knapp shot a 59 in the first round.

With plenty of water hazards and the infamous Bear Trap finish, PGA National was seen as one of the tougher tests on the schedule, but many feel the overseeding of Bermuda grass with rye grass has lessened the challenge.

And it's something that one player says the PGA Tour has to gain control of over the course owners, who have the final say.

Aesthetically the overseeding helps the course look greener for the TV audience, but players such as Billy Horschel, Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry say it also makes it easier.

The overseeding just takes some fire out of PGA National, having an overall softening effect which in particular makes chipping around the greens a lot easier than on straight Bermuda

"Chipping around the greens has gotten a lot easier," said Brooks Koepka as he returns to the event for the first time since 2022.

"I definitely think they [scores] will be lower just because of the overseed. I think you saw last year with Jake, those scores are definitely possible. Not saying anybody is going to do it this year. They very well could, but it's definitely gotten easier.

"Now with it being a little bit more consistent, I think you've got a reasonable chance of making - holing a chip or even getting it up-and-down.

"It was always a little bit - not sketchy, but anybody that knows or lives down on the East Coast knows that Bermuda isn't exactly the easiest thing to chip off of, especially when it's been trampled down over plenty of days and it's a little grainy into.

"But now at least you can get under the ball and have good contact with it. It makes chipping a lot easier."

Koepka does like a lot of the other changes to the course that have been made since his last appearance, adding: "It's the best I've seen this course in probably my 15 years, 20 years down here."

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PGA Tour needs 'complete control' of course setup

Billy Horschel posted on social media that the PGA National owners and not the PGA Tour have decided on the overseeding, something he hopes will change in future.

"One thing going forward that we need to do is make sure we have complete control of the setup of all Tour courses," Horschel wrote.

He's not a massive fan of the overseeding as a Florida native - as it takes away the advantage he has of experience chipping on Bermuda.

"I really wish we would just play this as straight Bermuda," Horschel said at last year's event. "From tee to green, everything Bermuda.

"I know it doesn't look pretty on TV and that's one of the reasons why it's overseeded.

"It's just a little disappointing because its such a great test of golf. 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."

Shane Lowry can testify to that, as he admits struggling to chip on straight Bermuda when he first started playing at PGA National.

"When I played the old Honda Classic as it was back when I started playing here, I couldn't figure out how to chip around these greens. I wish it was overseeded back then," said Lowry.

Lowry loves golf in Florida, where he now resides, but feels PGA National would be better without the overseeding and playing harder as it has done in previous years.

"It's probably going to play easier than that, which I don't like," added Lowry. "I'd prefer to 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 down here are unbelievable.

"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 I probably would like to see a bit more of the old traditional setup. It is what it is this week, and you just have to deal with the cards you're given."

'It's not a cakewalk' at PGA National

As always there are differing opinions with golf course setups, and Ryan Gerard, who is the highest ranked player in the field this week, says PGA National will at least be tougher than last year.

"There's been a lot of cold weather here recently, so all the Bermuda is a little dormant, and the greens are really running probably faster and significantly firmer than they've been in the last few years," said Gerard. "That ryegrass that's overseeded has really taken hold.

"It's firm throughout, especially in the rough, but it's juicy. It's not a cakewalk. You're not going to be able to just hit it in there and hack it out.

"Most of the time you're going to have to hit good shots, and if you're hitting a shot from that thick stuff into the green, you have to be very precise because there's an opportunity for it to just start bounding over the back of the green."

In general, most players seemingly agree with Joel Dahmen's thoughts from last year, who simply said: "I miss the old PGA National."