Rough and windy start to PGA Tour’s Florida Swing

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Brooks Koepka shot a career-high 81 at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Patrick Reed also posted a snowman. Matt Every went from the first-round lead to slamming a car trunk after posting a score 18 shots higher in the second. There was one score in the 60s on the weekend, and 13 in the 80s.

The week before Every went from 74 to 85 in the Honda Classic at PGA National. Tyrrell Hatton won at Bay Hill with a 4-under 284, the highest winning score in tournament history. Sungjae Im won at PGA National at 6-under 274, matching the second-highest score for a winner since the tournament moved there in 2007.

What in the name of triple bogeys is going on – just a few weeks after the USGA and R&A issued an alarming report on how the distances the best players are hitting the golf ball are leading to “seriously reducing the challenge of the game.”

“The Florida Swing is just brutal,” said Keegan Bradley, who shot 14 over in six rounds in those two events.

“Rough, tight fairways, firm greens, the wind was very difficult … pulling clubs was hard,” said Phil Mickelson about conditions last week at Bay Hill, where he shot 77-72 and missed the cut. “It was a hard test, but I enjoyed those conditions because you don’t get to see it much out here on Tour.”

It’s a good thing … therapists cost money, even for PGA Tour players.

When Hatton shot 74 in the final round on Sunday to win at Bay Hill, it was the highest final-round score by a winner since Brooks Koepka won the 2019 PGA with the same score. But with his 73-74 weekend rounds, Hatton became the first winner to shoot over par in both the third and fourth rounds since Geoff Ogilvy (72-72) in the 2006 U.S. Open.

“Every shot was stressful,” said Denny McCarthy of Bay Hill. “You couldn’t take a single shot off.”

Hatton and Im’s Florida Swing victories marked the 11th time in the history of PGA Tour golf in Florida, in March, in which there were two winners at single-digits under par.

There has never been three, but the Players, with the intricacies and quirks of the Stadium Course, and the Valspar Championship next week, at the difficult Innisbrook Resort Copperhead Course, could change that.

“Believe it or not, this might be the easiest course on the Florida Swing because of the way the last two played, and how [the Copperhead] is historically tough,” McCarthy said. “The weather looks good this week so this one might not have the teeth of the others. But you still have to hit quality shots.”

TPC Sawgrass director of agronomy Jeff Plotts said he and his staff felt a bit of envy when watching players struggle at PGA National and Bay Hill.

“We were laughing last week … ‘why can we have that kind of wind this week,’ ” Plotts said. “The best defense for a golf course against these guys is wind. They’re so good that if the wind doesn’t blow, they’re going to shoot good scores. We thought we were firming up but then we got the rain [Monday morning] and the firmness of the course can erode with just the rain we got.”

Brendan Steele was another one who wasn’t buying the possibility that the Stadium Course might be a bit tamer this week.

“Anywhere in Florida is really difficult,” said Steele, who played the Honda and API. “This is going to be hard this week. Valspar will be hard. Double-digits under par on the Florida Swing may not be attainable this year.”

Brendan Grace said he’s not assuming anything about the Stadium Course, where he shot 67 in the third round, then skyrocketed to a 77 in the final round in 2013.

“This course stays tough any time of year,” he said. “The rough is up and the greens are very small targets. With the wind we get in March, it plays a little trickier.”

Regardless of how difficult or how easy the Stadium might play, Mickelson said he’s positive of one thing.

“I have not seen this course in this good a shape,” said the 2007 Players champion. “There are no divots in the fairways, the greens are pristine … it’s the best I’ve ever seen this course, condition-wise.”

The reason for the high scores at PGA National (71.971, nearly a stroke higher than last year) and Bay Hill (74.106, nearly two strokes higher) was for the reason no one can control: weather conditions.

Fronts sped through the state at mid-week, clearing out to leave chilly, windy conditions on the weekend.

And there wasn’t enough rain to soften the greens.

“Honda was the fastest I’ve ever seen those greens,” said Steele, who played both tournaments. “A good shot was 30 to 40 feet away. But hitting it 30 to 40 feet didn’t mean you were going to make an easy par. The rough was down but you got more flier lies, hard to control.”

The weather stayed the same in Orlando for the API, but Steele said Bay Hill presented a different challenge.

“The rough was long … I had never seen it that long there,” he said. “And the greens were still really firm and fast.”