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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Home-course advantage didn’t mean a whole lot for Jupiter’s Rickie Fowler in the first round of the Honda Classic on Thursday.
As for Brooks Koepka, he found out what the wind can do on the sixth hole after he put the ball in the water twice for his first triple bogey in 447 holes.
PGA National added a twist to its already unforgiving nature. A course with prevailing winds typically from the southeast played much differently after a cool front that blew in overnight and flipped those winds, rendering all the calculations from practice rounds and Wednesday’s pro-am obsolete.
“I’ve played this direction before but it’s not the normal,” Fowler said.
Which is why when Fowler said Wednesday that he enjoys playing in the wind on this course, he did not mean, this wind. And he certainly isn’t used to playing the Champion Course with temperatures dipping into the 50s, which they did Thursday morning, actually dropping a few degrees after Fowler’s group teed off at 7:35 a.m. before reaching the high in the afternoon in the mid-60s.
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“This place is always reasonably windy,” said Ian Poulter, who shot an even-par 70. “So, I guess when you’ve played with the complete opposite wind then it gets a little tricky because you’re not visually seeing the shots you already played.”
The average score on the par-70 course Thursday was a tick under 2-over (71.986). In the last six years, the only year the average score for the entire tournament was higher came in 2018.
Last year, 44 players broke par on the first day. Thursday, 22 shot in the 60s, 10 in the morning when the wind was the strongest and the temperatures the coolest.
Fowler’s 76 equaled his highest score in 35 rounds at Honda. The others came in 2018 and 2011, when he missed the cut.
Keith Mitchell, who shot 9-under last year while capturing his first tile, shot 75, which including birdies on his final two holes. His worst round a year ago: 70.
“You just have to keep trying to move forward,” Fowler said. “There really isn’t a whole lot of letup on this golf course.”
PGA National is much more than the famed Bear Trap, its signature three-hole stretch on the back nine that consists of two par 3s (15, 17), sandwiched around the par-4 No. 16.
But while the Bear Trap contributed to the course being ranked the fifth toughest to play on Tour last season, none of those holes provide the challenge the par-4, 479-yard No. 6 does, and did on this year’s first round.
Koepka is the first to attest, having the lone triple bogey on the hole. But 16 others carded a double bogey on a hole that played more than a half stroke over par, which, if it continues at the same pace, would become the single toughest hole on the Tour so far this year.
“There’s a lot of water out here,” Koepka said. “If you’re going to find the water twice on a hole, you’re going to make a big number.”
Fowler said the direction of the wind made No. 6, “a significantly harder driving hole.”
Fowler shot a 76 with seven bogeys and a birdie. Koepka was two shots better with his triple, a double and two bogeys to go along with a birdie. The two tied for second last year, one shot behind Mitchell.
Honda could be looking at its two biggest names and drawing cards missing the cut, something it does not need considering the field the last two years has been underwhelming.
Still, as difficult as this course is, these players would not want it any other way. Those who actually take on the challenge do so with the idea that it prepares them for bigger tests at tournaments like The Players, PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. Unfortunately for the Honda, a group of the top players in the world living within 10 miles of the course have shied away from that challenge.
Justin Rose, ranked No. 13 in the world, returned after a four-year absence for that reason.
“You come here because it’s a test of golf,” he said after shooting a 74. “There’s a lot of tournaments that are low-scoring weeks out here on Tour, but this is not one of them. I relish that.”
Rose’s hole from hell Thursday was the start of the Bear Trap, No. 15. He dunked his tee shot on the way to a double-bogey.
“The wind’s harder from the right on the Bear Trap, it’s a tougher wind,” Rose said. “You might see more balls in the water possibly with this wind direction.”
Rose’s adventure on No. 15 paled compared to Ted Potter’s. Potter hit three in the water and took a 9 on the par-3 hole, a sextuplet-bogey. Otherwise, Potter, an 18-year pro from Ocala, managed the course pretty good, finishing 2-over.
“It’s doable out there,” Rose said. “The rough is not too bad, it’s very playable but you got to be on point.”
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