Justin Thomas explains why alarming number of | Golf News

Justin Thomas has acknowledged it’s a “bummer” that the PGA Tour’s elite gamers will skip this week’s Cognizant Classic because of scheduling conflicts.

The event, beforehand called The Honda Classic, was once among the strongest occasions on tour. Past champions at the Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, venue this century embrace Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, and Ernie Els.

This time, Brooks Koepka leads the sector as he continues his PGA Tour return after departing LIV Golf. PGA National is regarded as one of the most difficult programs on tour, with quite a few star gamers faltering at the legendary “Bear Trap.”

The water-surrounded stretch spanning holes 15-17 has delivered lots of final-round drama through the years, though the sector has diminished just lately.

The Cognizant Classic finds itself in an awkward spot on the calendar, sandwiched between three of the tour’s premier tournaments.

McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and others competed in The Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles last week, and most of the tour’s top gamers have opted to bypass the Cognizant.

This is due to the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players, which offer purses of $20 million and $25 million, going down immediately afterward on March 5 and March 12, respectively.

Despite many PGA Tour gamers residing within simple driving distance of the opening event of the Florida swing, the bulk choose to focus on recovery and preparation for the higher-profile and more profitable tournaments at Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass.

Thomas, set to return from back surgical procedure at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, acknowledges that The Cognizant has sadly suffered as a consequence of the congested schedule during this stretch of the season.

However, he notes that the sheer quantity of marquee occasions and “great golf courses” on the PGA Tour calendar represents a “good problem” to have, citing the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial as tournaments he would love to compete in under supreme circumstances, but his packed schedule merely will not allow.

“There are obviously a lot of arguments or a lot of different reasons, I guess. But it’s a bummer,” the 2018 champion said of the Cognizant Classic.

“It’s one of those events that has fallen at an unfortunate time in the schedule. I think it’s both a great thing and a bad thing about our schedule, how great it is, and the amount of great golf courses that we go to.

“It kills me that I am unable to play Torrey Pines every 12 months. Like Torrey Pines South, to me, is such a great golf course. It suits my eye so effectively. I just like the North Course, but I am unable to play in it every 12 months. Or Colonial. I really like Colonial. I believe that golf course is unbelievable, but I am unable to play 4 or 5 [weeks] in a row.

“It’s unfortunate. It’s a great, great problem to have, but it’s just one of those things the way that guys need to play certain events or feel like they give themselves the best opportunity to win and make the most points as possible. It’s just kind of where it falls [in the schedule].”