PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — The last time Austin Smotherman played in what is now known as the Cognizant Classic on the PGA Tour was in 2022, it wasn’t memorable: He shot a 70 in the first round and a 76 in the second, but missed the cut by four strokes.
Considering that, he didn’t expect a round like Thursday’s.
advertisement
Smotherman shot a 9-under 62 in Cognizant’s opening round, tied for the best round of his career, and took an early lead.
Smotherman became the seventh player to shoot 62 or higher at PGA National. Others: Jake Knapp (59 in 2025 first round), Matt Jones (61 in 2021 first round), Brian Herman (61 in 2012 second round), Chris Kirk (62 in 2023 second round), Brandon Hagee (62 in 2021 second round), Tiger Woods (62 in 2012 final round).
“It was a very easy round on a golf course that shouldn’t be this easy,” Smotherman said.
And it’s a hot topic at PGA National.
This course is overseeded, with rye added to the Bermuda grass. The benefits are numerous, including the grass looking greener and PGA National looking better on TV. Not only that, but the course has also become softer.
advertisement
Simply put, an overseeded PGA National is not as difficult to get around as the PGA National was a few years ago. Mark Wilson won the tournament in his first year at this course with a score of 5 under, and 11 of PGA National’s first 14 winners finished under 10 under. The winning scores for the past five years have been 12 under, 10 under, 14 under, 17 under, and 19 under.
“This is a really good golf course,” said Billy Horschel, who shot a 2-under 69 on Thursday. “It’s a very fair golf course. When it’s windy it’s a challenge, but when it’s calm like today it’s up for grabs. A few years ago the rough was longer, but then they started cutting it down and then overseeding the golf course.”
“Listen, I think the Tour gets a bad rap, but that’s not against the owners of PGA National. I understand their desire to overseed. People want to look good on TV, and if it looks good on TV, people will probably want to come to the games.”
Mr. Horschel caused a bit of a stir on Wednesday when he shared his opinion with Mr. X on the overseeding issue. On Thursday, he didn’t rant or rave, but he did make it clear that he prefers PGA National, which has a little more teeth, than this version.
advertisement
“We understand that we often use golf courses that we don’t own, but sometimes our decisions are based on the wishes of the owners,” Horschel said. “Obviously we have a say in what we think is best for the golf course and how they want to set it up and challenge it, but the owners also have a say. This applies not only to PGA National, but to many of the courses we have played over the years.”
Buoyed by six consecutive birdies from No. 7 to 12, Smotherman birdied the par-5 finishing hole and completed 62 holes for the second time in his PGA Tour career. He also shot 62 in the first round of the Bermuda Championship in October 2022.
He held the lead in the first round once before this week’s 2023 Mexico Open, but has yet to win in his first 81 matches on tour. He’s also been playing without a line on the ball this week to see how that affects his putting.
So far, so good.
advertisement
“Trust me, you can be pretty good at just letting your strokes be a little more free, being an artist on the green, looking at the line, going out, looking at the hole, seeing where you want it in, hitting it near where you need it,” Smotherman said. “I’ll just let my good speed run from there and hopefully get the hole out of the way.”
Nico Echavarria shot 63 in the morning half of the PGA National draw. Taylor Moore and Jackson Suber were the only players on the morning waivers to score higher than 67.
The wind picked up in the afternoon at PGA National, and it looked like Smotherman would maintain his lead.
