Jake Knapp’s 59 at PGA National had pros disappointed. Jack Nicklaus felt differently

The artist formerly known as the Honda Classic used to be known for its high winds and crispy fairways and greens that led to a U.S. Open-like test at the Champion Course at PGA National.

Those days at the now-named Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches seem to be a thing of the past. The tournament began overseeding the Bermuda grass with Ryegrass in 2023 to make the grass greener and soften things up. That decision has led to lower scores at Jack Nicklaus’ pride and joy, with the latest torching coming Thursday when Jake Knapp carded a 12-under-par 59 in the opening round.

Knapp’s 59 was the 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history and had several pros bemoaning the defanging of PGA National.

Jack Nicklaus, however, didn’t mind that Knapp picked apart one of his signature courses.

To the 18-time major champion, Knapp’s 59 said something positive about the Champion Course.

“Guys hit it further, the conditions are good, you got a benign day and guys can shoot a good score. That’s OK. I like that,” Nicklaus said Saturday during NBC’s third-round coverage of the Cognizant Classic. “If a golf course won’t yield to good golf then I don’t think it’s a very good golf course. Now if you have a day like we did Thursday and 3 under is the low score then I think it’s the golf courses fault.”

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Nicklaus’ opinion was not shared by Billy Horschel.

“There was no wind, so it helps tremendously,” Horschel said on Thursday. “You’ve got to tip your hat to [Knapp]. He shot a 12-under par 59 at PGA National, which no one ever thought. I know we had a discussion earlier this week and I’ve probably changed my tune a little bit. I think the overseed has — the rough is not long enough. It’s not penal enough when you miss the fairway.

“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.”

Herschel later added: “It is a little disappointing that, I’d say the condition of the course is very scorable.”

Jordan Spieth made his tournament debut this week and noted that the conditions and setup called for guys to go low on Thursday.

“I thought from a course setup they weren’t many of the hardest pins on the golf course,” Spieth said. “A lot of them were in gettable locations, and then we didn’t have any wind, so it was a beautiful morning.”

Chris Kirk won the 2023 tournament at 14 under par. Austin Eckroat followed with a 17-under showing last year.

The winner figures to be around that number this year. That’s OK with Nicklaus, although there’s no question he’d prefer the PGA National of old to return.