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 1709585171 it’s okay where before with the forward tees I could hit it straight and it might run through.”
Lee, who shot…
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