After one round of action at the 2025 Cognizant Classic, Jake Knapp is sitting on a score that would be low enough to win this tournament most years. Through 18 holes, however, it is clear that this year at PGA National is nothing like those in the past. Knapp fired the 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history on Thursday with a 12-under 59 to open a four-stroke lead over Daniel Berger, Russell Henley and Sami Valimaki.

Knapp was hardly the only player to take advantage of the conditions and course set up. Rickie Fowler found some form after a tumultuous West Coast Swing and opened his tournament with a 64 while Jordan Spieth, his good friend and playing partner the first two days, was only one worse with a 65 of his own.

Only six prior rounds out of 72 held at PGA National boasted a scoring average below 70 with four of those coming the last two seasons. While the scoring has improved significantly over the last few years, PGA National has never seen a day like Thursday where the field came in with an average just a hair higher than 68.50.

“It’s just a little disappointing because it’s such a great test of golf. The conditions, no wind, we’ve had rain this week, which makes it softer,” Billy Horschel said. “… If you had Bermuda rough and Bermuda fairways, and if you missed the green, you had to chip it off Bermuda instead of overseeded rye. It makes it a little bit tougher. 

“Three days left. Hopefully the wind picks up. Hopefully we see a little bit of PGA National because it is fun playing this golf course when it’s tough. I think a lot of us do enjoy it. I think Sepp [Straka] and I talked about that and Cam Young. We all three talked about how enjoyable it is to play a really tough golf course and not have to feel like you’ve got to go shoot 5-, 6-, 7-under par. Normally 2-, 3-under is a really good round here. But like I said, we’ve got three more days, and we’ll see what happens.”

Conditions could harden over the next 54 holes, but perhaps not to the point players and spectators are accustomed. With a new and different PGA National to attack, competitors will have to pin their ears back and keep on piling up the birdies or risk getting left behind.

The leader

1. Jake Knapp (-12): There were only three sub-60 rounds before 2000. There have been 12 in the last quarter century, including three over the last two seasons. Knapp became the latest to join the club on Thursday, but he will do well to break another mini trend among those who have carded a 59. 

The last four to do so — Kevin Chappell, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young and Hayden Springer — have walked away from the respective tournament in which those scores were obtained without a trophy. Knapp instead hopes to follow in the footsteps of Brandt Snedeker, the last man to win the same week as shooting 59, which he accomplished at the 2017 Wyndham Championship.

“I just think it’s a course that doesn’t have — there’s no real goofiness to it or anything like that,” Knapp said of PGA National. “It’s just kind of right in front of you. It’s very execution based. You just have to hit the shots that the hole calls for. It’s not a course where you can overpower it, either. I don’t hit a lot of drivers out here. It’s more of a positional golf course for me, and just try to make sure that from pitching wedge to 6-iron I’m hitting the ball well, and that should take care of the rest.”

Other contenders

T2. Russell Henley, Daniel Berger, Sami Valimaki (-8)
T5. Sam Ryder, Rickie Fowler, Davis Riley, Jesper Svensson, Keith Mitchell, J.J. Spaun (-7)
T11. Jordan Spieth, Brian Harman, Michael Kim, Joe Highsmith, Charley Hoffman (-6)

An opening 63 puts players four strokes off the pace of Knapp, but there is still plenty of time to make up the deficit. Henley has a tournament title under his belt already, and Berger has been close. He has notched three top-five finishes at PGA National with two of those coming in his last three playings of this event. 

After a great West Coast Swing, Berger is primed to make amends. He gained more than two strokes on approach Thursday and another three on the greens. His off-the-tee numbers are skewed since his opening tee shot found a palm tree and never fell back to the ground. He went onto make a miraculous par, but it just goes to show you that even his round could have been lower.

“I thought I played well, but then someone shot 59,” Berger said. “Clearly the course was not the old Bear Trap that we’re used to. But still a great start to the event, and just got to continue to do what I did today for the next three days.”

Spring breakers surging

Knapp was the best ball striker in the field on Thursday, but Fowler was not far behind. The former tournament champion gained almost five strokes on the field through his off the tee and iron play en route to his 64 where he played his final 11 holes in 7 under.

While Fowler leaned on his ball striking, Spieth saw some gains on the greens. The tournament debutant bowled a turkey of birdies around his first trip through the Bear Trap thanks to conversions from 23, 13 and 12 feet. While plenty has been made of his tee-to-green game amid his return from injury, Spieth’s putter heating up is a welcome sight as he has simply not been making the putts he once drained during the peak of his powers.

“Luckily, I was seeing a lot of good stuff. Really just one poor swing on 14, and patience is the biggest thing,” Fowler said. “You start trying to press or do too much on this course, it’ll jump up and bite you really quickly. There’s a lot of water that’ll come into play, and a lot of times it’s not necessarily making bogey. It’s a quick double, if not more. 

“So yeah, with the conditions, it’s not going to get any easier than it was today really. That being said, 59 is still 59. You can’t take anything away from that. But yeah, it’s a day where you go out and shoot even par or a couple under and you’re kind of kicking yourself in the butt with what’s available out there.”

Early favorite for Florida Man of Florida Swing

Horschel shot 66 in Round 1 and is firmly in this tournament, but it was something else inside the ropes that brought the most attention towards him. Wielding a 60 degree wedge to perfection, the former Florida Gators star took care of a Florida gator as he navigated the creature into the water and off the golf course during his first round.

“I’m not afraid of gators,” Horschel said. “Listen, as I tell most people, I said, they’re more afraid of you. … The majority of the time, they’re fine. I grew up with my dad grabbing their tail when they’re on the side of the bank and shooing them back in the water. I never touched a tail with my hand, but I’ve done it with a club. Not that big of a deal.

“I had a 60 [degree wedge], and I didn’t think about it, but the good thing I did grab a 60 because I’ve got two extra ones in the locker, so if that one did become unavailable, I had two more in the locker.”

2025 Cognizant Classic updated odds, picks

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

• Jake Knapp: 7/2
• Daniel Berger: 15/2
• Russell Henley: 15/2
• Keith Mitchell: 18-1
• Rickie Fowler: 18-1
• J.J. Spaun: 18-1
• Jordan Spieth: 22-1
• Shane Lowry: 22-1
• Michael Kim: 28-1

Berger and Henley have to love where they stand. Both players are extremely accurate off the tee and lethal with an iron in hand. The putters are rolling in the right direction, and they have plenty of skill and firepower to catch Knapp over the next 54 holes. One of them should get the job done come Sunday. However, as for a couple longshots, Joe Highsmith is six behind at 50-1 and Riley (who won in 2023-24) is one closer at 7 under yet priced at 80-1.