Nate Tramdaks, Staff Writer

As spring starts to round into form, so does the PGA Tour. Each year around late-February and early-March, the Tour departs from California and sets up shop in Florida. This Florida swing of the PGA Tour is extremely important, as it starts to provide viewers  a large enough sample of the players. Storylines and narratives begin to build and we get a more vivid picture and understanding of the players. This swing is also very unique, as Florida’s landscape and terrain play a huge role and make the courses play unlike any other of the stops on tour. This is where we get to see courses that have Bermuda grass, a surplus of water hazards, and unpredictable weather conditions. This swing culminates in The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, the unofficial fifth major, and introduces us to the height of the golf season. With leg one of the swing down, here is the breakdown of what’s left to come. 

The Florida swing opened at the PGA National Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens. Over the past weekend we saw Nico Echavarria pick up his sixth win on Tour at the Cognizant Classic. It was a dramatic fourth round that saw Euro Ryder Cup hero, Shane Lowry, throw away yet another tournament win. After an incredible -8 outing on Round 3 Saturday, Lowry was catapulted to the top of the leaderboard for a share of 1st. The Irishman came out swinging on Sunday as he was -6 through the first 13 holes and it looked like it would be a run away win. What has happened many times happened again; however, Lowry shrunk. Lowry came into the late 3 hole stretch of PGA National, the Bear Trap, with the lead and came out in a tie for 2nd. He dumped back-to-back tee shots in the water on 16 and 17, making double-bogey twice, and gave up any chance to win. He saved face with T2 finish.

The Cognizant is known as the appetizer of this swing; not many stars play in it, but the course dominates the viewing experience. The following week, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, is where things get turned up a notch. At Bay Hill Club in Orlando we got our third signature event of the season. Designed by Dick Wilson in 1961, and Palmer’s extensive remodeling in the ‘70s has made Bay Hill one of the most challenging tests on tour. With water and sand practically everywhere, and length being one of the biggest challenges to overcome, Bay Hill offers an exciting test for the stars leading into The Players Championship.

The Players is held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. Arguably one of the toughest Pete Dye designs, Sawgrass offers many risk-reward opportunity shots, as well as tight fairways and heavily defended greens. As it is the first real test of thinking and course management, it punishes indecisive shot selection. There is no favorable play style at Sawgrass, whoever is dialed the most has the best chance. It will be hard for this year’s players’ top lasts. In 2025, we got a playoff finish that saw Rory McIlroy defeat JJ Spaun, after Spaun dumped his tee shot into the water on the famous par-3 17th during the playoff. Both players would go on to win majors that year, with Rory winning the Masters and completing the grand slam, and JJ winning the US Open. The Players give us our first taste of Major action.

Their final stop takes us to Palm Harbor, where the Valspar Championship is held at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort. The Valspar is an underrated watch. The Copperhead is a gorgeous course with each hole having water in play. As a result, cool bunkers and narrow fairway formations insist on good old-school course management. Viktor Hovland won there in 2025 at -11. At the wrap of the Valspar, it means we are three weeks away from the Masters and the peak of the PGA Tour season.