Print this page  |  Close Window

By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Do you like seeing the best players in the world make birdies? Do you like seeing 20-under par win golf tournaments? Or are you one of those people who watch NASCAR hoping to see a wreck?

If you fall into the latter category, you are a sick person in need of help. But, you are also in luck. If carnage is what you are looking for, though, the PGA TOUR is here to provide.

For years a certain faction on the PGA TOUR has been echoing the same refrain; "bring in the rough, firm up the greens, make the courses tougher." I was one of those players. All I can say now is be careful what you wish for....

Brett Quigley knows this Florida Swing is going to be more difficult than years past. (Rogash/WireImage)

For the next month players on the PGA TOUR will face one of the toughest stretches of golf that the TOUR has ever laced together.

PGA National, home of the 1987 PGA Championship and host of this week's Honda Classic, has gotten a minor facelift. In 1987 par was 72. Larry Nelson shot 1-under 287 in his victory over Lanny Wadkins. With the addition of seven new tees, the course has been lengthened, yet par has been lowered. The contenders in The Honda Classic this week will be handed a scorecard of 70.

After shooting 74 with no birdies, Brett Quigley said, "There isn't a single let-up on this golf course. Not one hole that you stand on and say this is a birdie hole." Most weeks, 74 would be completely out of contention -- however, this isn't most weeks. If Brett can push his score back to red numbers he could have a chance on Sunday afternoon.

Don't think for a moment that the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort, host of next week's PODS Championship will give these guys any kind of respite. For the past seven years, the young tournament has been at the end of the TOUR schedule. The wind and weather are considerably less predictable in the spring than in early fall, though.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill has gotten a facelift as well. With the new name to honor one of the game's greats comes a renovated golf course. Par at Bay Hill will be reduced to 70 for the tournament this year -- as if Bay Hill wasn't hard enough already.

The final event on the Florida swing will be the World Golf Championships-CA Championship at Doral. From early reports there will be more rough than we have seen on the Blue Monster in the past. With the south Florida winds billowing through the palms, scoring will continue to baffle the best players in the world.

There are players who tend to play better in the wind than others. Furthermore, the recovery time for players coming out of Florida varies. The tendency for players who don't play in the Florida breezes regularly is to make too great an adjustment with ball position and tempo. Interestingly, enough many of the players who make south Florida their home are generally high-ball hitters.

Perhaps that is why so many World Golf Hall of Fame players like Tom Watson struggled in Florida. Phil Mickelson has 30 PGA TOUR victories but he and Michael Bradley have the same number of wins in Florida -- one each.

The quartet of courses the PGA TOUR will visit in March is relentless. I don't expect you to feel sorry for guys who make their living playing golf in the sunshine for millions of dollars while you shovel your driveway. And if you take some sort of guilty pleasure from watching players struggle you should enjoy the next month. There will be no need to flip to Ultimate Fighting or the X Games -- we will have plenty of carnage for you on the PGA TOUR.