The first round of the Cognizant Classic is in the bag and after Jake Knapp broke the course record with a round of 59, Billy Horschel had some kind words towards the current leader.
Horschel played pretty well himself, carding a round of five under to put himself in the mix.
However, while Horschel is only three of the players in behind Knapp at the top of the leaderboard, he’s still a whopping seven shy of Knapp.
And after catching Knapp outside the PGA National course following their respective rounds, Horschel was caught by the PGA cameras giving some nice praise to the leader.
Billy Horschel’s praise for Jake Knapp after his round of 59 at the Cognizant Classic
The PGA Tour players are generally a tight knit group and while Horschel spoke in his press conference about the course being a touch easy, he still gave Knapp his flowers.
“That’s some good playing,” Horschel said to Knapp.
“I mean I didn’t think 59 was ever going to happen at PGA National. I would have put a lot of money on it. Like a lot of money! But that was awesome, congrats man. Pretty good buddy. I was five under, I feel like I shot four over what you shot!”
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Why Billy Horschel was unhappy with the PGA National course
Billy Horschel is always a class act on and off the golf course and to see him giving Jake Knapp praise here was a nice touch.
However, the American was less happy when it came to his actual press conference and he admitted that he was a touch disappointed in the golf course.
“There was no wind so it helps tremendously,” Horschel said after shooting a first-round 66. “You’ve got to tip your hat to him [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.”
“It is a little disappointing that, I’d say the condition of the course is very scorable,” Horschel added further.
“But at the same time, you’ve still got to go out there, you’ve still got to hit golf shots, you’ve still got to make putts. But this will be, right now, if scoring sort of stays the way it is going into the afternoon, I’m going to suspect because there’s not much wind projected this afternoon, this will be the lowest scoring average in the history of this tournament by I’m going to say a shot and a half.”
Horschel will be hoping for more of the same for himself in round two while he’ll be hoping that Knapp – somehow – drops a few shots and allows the field to close in.
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