'A Little Disappointing' - Players Unhappy With Easier PGA National Setup

The Champions Course at PGA National was once one of the toughest tests on the PGA Tour, but many players describe recent changes as "disappointing" as it made even the famous Bear Trap too easy on a day of incredible low scoring at the Cognizant Claassic.

Jake Knapp led the way with a brilliant 59 - the 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history - but he wasn't the only one to go low in the opening round of the Cognizant Classic.

In admittedly perfect weather conditions with little wind, 115 players were under par in the first round, with 15 of them shooting 65 or better.

All this on a course that had a scoring average of 71.41 over the last decade as one of the most difficult venues on the PGA Tour - but changes have made even the Bear Trap much less of a test.

And ahead of this year, overseeding of the usual bermudagrass with rye, for the first time since 2014, served to soften fairways and greens and the removal of some bunkers all combined to make the course easier - to the disappointment of a lot of the players.

"It's just a little disappointing because it's such a great test of golf," said Billy Horschel, who also tackled an alligator before going on to lead the criticism of the course setup.

"I think the overseed has - the rough is not long enough. It's not penal enough when you miss the fairway.

"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.

"Hopefully the wind picks up. Hopefully we see a little bit of PGA National because it is fun playing this golf course when it's tough. I think a lot of us do enjoy it.

"I really wish we would just play this as a straight Bermuda. From tee to green, everything be straight Bermuda. I know it doesn't look prettier on TV and I know that's one of the reasons why it's overseeded.

"So it is a little disappointing that - I'd say the condition of the course is very scorable."

Horschel was not the only one though, with several other players noting that the overseeding at PGA National had made the course far easier than usual.

"I didn't realize that it was overseeded, and the fairways being overseeded changes it a lot because it'll make the fairways softer which makes them wider, and then around the greens it's significantly easier than the dormant Bermuda," noted Jordan Spieth.

"You're looking at easily a stroke a round on just the change in the grass types in the fairway."

Russell Henley reacted to Knapp's 59 by saying: "Doesn't really surprise me. The place is overseeded now, and they've taken out some bunkers and made a couple changes. When the wind is down like this, I think it's definitely gettable.

"But it doesn't matter what the condition is. Anytime you shoot 59, it's great, and it's unbelievable."

“I thought I played well, but then someone shot 59,” said Daniel Berger after shooting 63.

“The course was not the old Bear Trap we’re used to.”

Joel Dahmen kept it short and sweet as he weighed in on X, simply saying: "I miss the old PGA National."