Tour Guide: Wet and Wild in West Palm

The Florida Swing may not have the cache it once did, but it still has the Bear Trap, and that’s really all that matters at the end of the day.

Earth, Wind & Water

By Joseph LaMagna

Welcome to Cognizant Classic week, historically known as the Honda. When I discuss PGA National publicly, I tend to get some mild backlash when I speak less than favorably about it. People seemingly appreciate the difficulty of the golf course, which often plays over par despite not being too lengthy. There’s also quite a bit of history at this venue, and the closing few holes generally deliver drama. Fair enough. Where I’ve landed with PGA National is that it scores much better in the entertainment category than in the architecture category, and that’s not a bad thing. Watching golfers navigate a bunch of water hazards in the Florida wind is not necessarily my cup of tea, but if it produces some turbulence and excitement, I suppose it’s a fine venue for a non-signature event on the PGA Tour.

The sixth hole encapsulates what I don’t love about this style of golf. A long par 4 typically measuring 465-480 yards, the sixth is one of the toughest holes on the golf course. Though conditions heavily dictate difficulty, the sixth frequently plays at least 0.2 strokes over par. Water lines the entire left side of the hole. Favor the right side.

This plot is a pretty strong representation of how modern strategy informs player decision-making off the tee. Though the pin is on the right, it isn’t advisable to challenge the water hazard down the left side for a better angle to attack the flag. The penalty associated with finding the water outweighs the benefits of a better angle, as you shift your target left towards the hazard. Thus, players favor the right-hand side of the fairway. If the tee shot finds the fairway, great. If it’s in the right rough, you can recover from there. Many water-lined holes on the PGA Tour will have a plot nearly identical to the one above.

Water hazards impose consequences on errant shots, but the prevalence of water tends to stifle interesting strategy. PGA National presents some fun shots, especially down the closing stretch, but overall I don’t find the golf course to be particularly compelling. That said, wind is one of the best defenses against the modern tour player equipped with modern technology, so it’s refreshing to watch golf at a venue where wind is a reliable factor.

The player I’m most eager to watch this week is Eric Cole. Eric is not the most accurate driver in the world, but you can get away with some errancy at PGA National as long as you avoid water hazards. Some holes call for less than driver off the tee, as well. It isn’t the best golf course for an elite driver to separate himself, which works to Cole’s advantage. Strong mid-iron play and a good short game pair nicely at PGA National, and Eric Cole checks the boxes in those categories.

Last year’s Honda Classic was Eric Cole’s coming out party for most golf fans, as he lost in a playoff to Chris Kirk. Since then, Cole has been a remarkably consistent player on the PGA Tour, and one of the best recent examples of a late bloomer finding his footing at golf’s highest level. Eric enters the event priced as the fourth favorite in the betting markets. Let’s see if he can get himself into the mix this weekend on a notoriously high-variance golf course.

Memory Lane: Jack’s Back

By Will Knights

The PGA Tour has been visiting the West Palm Beach area for decades, years before PGA National even existed. The event now known as the Cognizant Classic has had its share of brilliant moments — like Rory McIlory’s incredible 3-wood into the 72nd hole in 2012 — and it’s also had its share of oddities, like a three-way playoff in 2000 involving players allegedly named Dudley Hart, J.P. Hayes, and Kevin Wentworth. But I will argue that there will never be a tournament in WPB as memorable, for good or for bad, as the 1978 Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic.

Having finished in the top 10 in 29 of his last 32 major championship starts, Jack Nicklaus began the 1978 season in a bit of a major drought. It had been a ghastly two years since he’d won a major, although he did finish runner-up twice in ‘77. Still, winless since the Memorial Tournament, Nicklaus arrived at Inverrary Country Club hungry for a victory. On the final day, he started two shots behind leader Hale Irwin and one back of Grier Jones, setting up a fascinating final group battle on Sunday. By the time the threesome reached the 14th tee, Nicklaus was seemingly out of contention. But, of course, this is Jack Nicklaus.

He chipped in on No. 14 for birdie.

He chipped in on No. 15 for birdie.

He chipped in on No. 16 for birdie.

On the 17th, Nicklaus deigned to hit the green in regulation and proceeded to roll in a birdie from outside 20 feet. On the home hole, he hit his approach to three feet and made his fifth birdie in a row. To his credit, Jones hung with Jack the whole time. But he was unable to birdie any of the final three holes, ultimately losing by a stroke.

Nicklaus would go on to win three more times that season, including the Players Championship and the Open at St. Andrews, his final wins at both events. Jones, a three-time Tour winner, never got back to the winner’s circle. He later took a teaching pro job in his home town of Wichita, and was eventually named head golf coach at Wichita State. (It was there that he and the Shockers beat up on yours truly for four years in the Missouri Valley Conference, but that’s a story for a different day.)

One Shot from Last Week

By Will Knights

While last week’s PGA Tour venue was a complete disgrace, we did have a few shots that stood out as memorable.

For example, this mid-iron approach from Nicolai Højgaard:

Nicolai Højgaard is throwing darts @MexicoOpenGolf 🎯 pic.twitter.com/QI8TtAmYmj

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 23, 2024

There are a couple things I love about this shot from the Dane. For one, he turns the ball over against the wind. Not only is that somewhat difficult to do, it also requires that you take that loss of distance into account when selecting your club. Secondly, while the ball wasn’t wildly below his feet, the lie still certainly set up for a fade. To execute this shot, Højgaard had to draw the ball against the wind off a fade lie, all while picking the right club and keeping the shot from turning over too much. A thing of beauty.