PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida — The mighty Champion Course at PGA National appears to have lost its cutting edge after recent efforts to produce a gentler course for professional golfers.
The 2024 Cognizant Classic set a new standard for low scoring on the vaunted course: Champion Austin Eckroat shot 17-under, the best by an event winner on the Champion Course, while a record 27 total golfers shot 10-under or better.
In the 17 previous years of the event at PGA National, just 11 golfers shot 10-under or better with 11 tournaments producing no golfers double-digits under par.
Last year, Chris Kirk and Eric Cole went to a playoff at a record 14-under in the final Honda Classic. Only two other players shot 10-under or better in a tournament that was arguably the lowest scoring at the event site to date.
Even though Eckroat ultimately won by a comfortable three-stroke margin Monday, the former Oklahoma State star was well aware he was tailed by a pack of golfers capable of cashing in on scoreable conditions.
“I look at the leaderboard when I’m playing. I’m not afraid to look at them,” Eckroat said. “I noticed that those guys were close and then on No. 15 I noticed Min Woo Lee had gone to 14-under. I knew I wasn’t clear then and there were a lot of guys still in the event with the Bear Trap coming.”
Golfers feast on redesigned No. 10
The Champion Course at PGA National has developed a challenging reputation among professional golfers due to its plentiful water, unpredictable winds and tricky hole designs.
In the 2020-21 season, the course was rated the third-most difficult on the PGA Tour, a fact that reportedly drove some top golfers away when combined with its usual late February, early March schedule.
In recent years, efforts to ease the course’s difficulty have included cutting the 4-inch rough in half as well as shortening the yardage on the Bear Trap’s notorious par-3s.
This year, tournament officials also converted hole No. 10 from a par-4 to a par-5, a change that immediately made it the easiest hole on the course: Golfers combined for 28 eagles and 283 birdies over the tournament with no player scoring worse than bogey, just 14 times.
“For me, obviously, a longer hitter, [hole No. 10] actually shaped to my liking a bit more,” said Min Woo Lee, who finished tied for second at 14-under. “If I hit it straight [now] it’s okay where before with the forward tees I could hit it straight and it might run through.”
Lee, who shot 4-under at the event last year, played No. 10 at 6-under for the tournament with two eagles and two birdies.
Monday finish a rare challenge
While the course may not have offered the usual hazards that stymy golfers, Mother Nature still had its say with Sunday’s driving rains that pushed the tournament to its first Monday finish since 2015.
“It was hectic but I just had to keep my head in the game,” Lee said. “I don’t really have that many Monday finishes or where I’ve been included … It was tough to regroup and lock in.
“Last night, I was just on my phone for a couple hours and I was like, ‘What am I doing? I need to sleep,’ It felt like the end of the tournament but we had another 12 hours of golf to play.”
Shane Lowry and David Skinns, who co-led after 54 holes with Eckroat, struggled to build momentum Monday morning, both shooting 1-over to finish tied for fourth.
Lowry’s struggles were visible and the former British Open champion smashed his club into the ground in frustration on hole No. 15 after hitting his tee shot into the water and failing to put his third shot close enough to avoid a double bogey.
Skinns, who bogeyed two of his first three holes Sunday after the rain delay, was better Monday but ultimately not good enough to keep pace with Eckroat.
“Yeah, yesterday that was a strange day, waiting around as much as we did,” Skinns said. “I thought I’d be pretty calm, but yesterday I was pretty apprehensive. I wasn’t feeling great.
“Came back today with a totally different outlook, and I’m pleased with the way I played today. There was a couple of iffy shots, but I put my best foot forward today I felt like, and I was more comfortable.”
Skinns entered the tournament ranked 289th in the world ranking and his payout for tying for fourth place ($344,250) will more than double his career PGA Tour earnings.
Erik Van Rooyen was likely the most apprehensive player not at PGA National on Monday.
The South African shot a tournament-best 63 in a final round finished Sunday to enter the clubhouse at 14-under. He chose to take part as scheduled in the prestigious pro-member event at Seminole Golf Club, though he reportedly had a car waiting in the event he backed into a playoff.
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@gannett.com.
PGA Tour golfers 10-under or better at PGA National
2024 — 27
2023 — 4
2022 — 1
2021 — 1
2020 — 0
2019 — 0
2018 — 0
2017 — 1
2016 — 0
2015 — 0
2014 — 0
2013 — 0
2012 — 3
2011 — 0
2010 — 1
2009 — 0
2008 — 0
2007 — 0
