New name. New Look. Formerly known as The Honda Classic, the PGA TOUR ‘Florida Swing’ begins this week in Palm Beach Gardens at the PGA National Resort & Spa with its annual tournament bearing a new title sponsor. South Florida’s can’t-miss golf event, The Cognizant Classic tees it up with big names set to take on The Bear Trap! We’ll get you set for all the details, history and anticipation you need to know.
What’s up everybody this is Rob Brandt and this is Rick Brandt and we are the brothers brand welcome back to episode 159 of the brothers brand podcast uh forgive me on this one but the cognizant classic preview formerly the Honda Classic preview so Rob it rolls right off the tongue it’s branding
It’s a new name a new look G there’s a g and an n gnnn and a z slapped into this title a heck of a sponsor it’s the cognizant classic preview show here on the brothers Brandt podcast we’re going to be talking about South Florida’s Premier golf tournament on the PGA tour
Schedule the Florida swing kicks off this week Robbie boy and that means that major season is right around the corner but let’s get into it let’s talk a little bit about this annual golf tournament that takes place at Palm Beach Gardens PGA National Resort and Spa you know the place very intimately
Correct uh I do not at all I don’t know why you would toss that up to me I’ve never been there I’ve never experienced it uh I believe you’re confusing myself with yourself uh you’ve been there a million times you worked there you’ve played the course six times you’re very
Intimately uh involved in this course so why don’t you tell us Rick you know I must have got my papers all mixed up there I don’t know what happened to me I do have to apologize we uh we are familiar with the PGA National Resort
And Spa and uh you’re right I am uh a former member there and uh having worked former member well you know that’s a loose term I can assure you no I so for for those listeners out there Rick started working for PG G for a short time you know would have been
Longer but Co put an end to that um but uh Rick was uh making tea times left and right leveraging the PGA Rob that place the PGA National Resort and Spa it is uh it’s really a destination they have six golf courses there they’ve now put in a par three
Course uh the resort itself has been uh completely renovated my wife and I spent a little bit of time there about a year ago uh it’s really a place that if you’re a golf Enthusiast even if you’re not going for the cognizant classic make your way over to Palm Beach Gardens
Enjoy your stay uh plenty to do in that area it’s a beautiful spot especially this time of year so they have been though Rob since 2007 hosting an annual PGA Tour event as you mentioned and we’ve talked about already previously known as the Honda Club classic a new sponsor has come in Rob
Tell the individuals because here is where the paperwork is correct tell the listeners about the cognizant company which is headquartered in your former backyard talk to us about who these people are and what do they do uh yeah Rick um sure uh cognizant is an American multinational information technology
Services and consulting company head Ed in t Neck New Jersey founded in 1994 uh traded publicly with $19 billion in annual revenue I think we should invest I think now would be a good time to invest their stock is going to go through the roof this weekend in Palm
Beach Gardens investors possibly you they got a couple of shekels to th 19 billion in annual revenue yeah they can throw some money at the uh the former Honda Classic get the name out there get The Branding but t New Jersey um special place in my heart spent a
Couple of years there at Fairley Dickinson University which we will highlight fdu in our March Madness preview but yeah very familiar with T-Neck River Road uh Cedar Cedar Lane Diner uh no longer there rest in peace rip minutes away from Manhattan Rob it’s kind of a coincidence how this episode
Is full circle with both of us having spent times in some locations that are important to this tournament now absolutely absolutely why don’t you tell our listeners about some uh past champions and then defending Champion that we have coming up this week it would be my honor to Rob this event
Kicked off back in 1972 and what’s unique about this tournament is its inaugural purse the total amount that was available for winnings that year in 1972 was 52,00 ,000 which currently doesn’t sound like a PGA Tour purse but you got to go back 50 years and then one cool little neat
Thing here Rob is that the purse was actually more than twice the amount of what the Master’s purse was that year so when they decided they were going to start this Tournament down in South Florida the way that they attracted the way that they attracted a really impressive field of players was by
Thrown a lot of money at them as a possible winning and um so they did that and the tournament that strategy by the way has not changed no no follow the money follow the money so uh over the years very notable golfers have played in this tournament H
Some of which you know Jack Nicholas has won this event twice of course Johnny Miller has done so himself both Hall of Fame golfers Friends of the Pod and some notables that are are current golfers out there Rory mroy Justin Thomas also Friends of the Pod also Friends of the
Pod you know I actually don’t know I don’t I don’t know if any of these that I’m mentioning right now are friends of the Pod but we’ll get them on the Pod I don’t even know if they know we exist so I’ll tell you what Adam Scott and
Ernie El’s probably do those are probably Our Best Bets you think so yeah you know they’re foreign they’re Australian they’ve got the whole you know yeah yeah okay we have a big Following over there okay so as I’m saying this it makes me think that this tournament is going to
Be a big time tournament this year you get all these stars that have played it in the past and then this year’s field is loaded locked and loaded Matthew Fitzpatrick major Champion Shane Lowry major Champion Justin Rose Olympic champion Gary Woodland major major Champion Rory and Ricky it’s going to be
A heck of a tournament this year Rob things kick off on February 29th and they play through March 3D and the tournament will be shown on the Golf Channel in NBC yeah and I think this uh the purse did you mention that the purse is $9 million this year this year it’s
Up to$ N million a little bit more than the 52,000 they started off with years back yeah just a couple you carry the one and the zero and yeah so yeah just do a little math there and it’s a lot of money it’s a lot of money and um well I
Think I think the reason why you’re getting such a great field is because uh you know obviously that’s dating and I just feel like Liv is buying up everybody and I think the PGA just really needs to get a better product out on on the course consistently every week
So throw some more money at the purse get the big guys out there that’s what we want to see we want to see The Heavy Hitters coming in there but we’re not opposed to amateurs Rising the the ranks shock in the nation March madnesses uh and that’s what happened
Last year Rick walk us through what happened last year and the defending champion and the Battle Royale that uh ensued down in Palm Beach Gardens yeah it was the grand finale to the Honda Classic and it got fireworks rob it got a playoff on the 18th hole it was two
Individuals that have pretty impressive like stories and obstacles and hurdles that they’ve overcome in the past so our defending champion from last year Chris Kirk he and Eric Cole who last year on the PGA tour was named Rookie of the Year who by the way is one of the oldest
Rookies of the year ever in the history of the PGA tour at the age of 34 so these don’t give up on your dreams kids exactly these grown adults they duked it out and Chris Kirk he had won on the PGA tour years ago and then he
Kind of fell into a little bit of a off the- field off the course type problems and issues he’s had talked openly about some of his alcoholism and uh he just hit really this rough patch not just in his career but in his life and uh he
Battled back and I think it had been like six years since he had won prior and that’s a long span yeah and so he fought back and he competed and he uh ended up over overcoming um not just uh four rounds of golf but a couple playoff
Holes against Eric Cole who he has a unique story in of itself um his parents both mother and father um athletes professional uh golfers I believe his mom was like at one point named uh LPGA player of the year 20 30 years ago and so he’s had this dream ever since he was
A little kid of one day competing on the PGA tour and as you said Rob don’t give up on your dreams and what you want to do and so he lives down in the south Florida area and he has for many years tried to qualify for PGA Tour events and
It’s a it’s a rigorous process actually you’ve gotta bring your aame uh for not just one day or two days but for a whole series of basically a week and a half to qualify and and change your career trajectory so Eric uh this was now over
A year ago he he had a up the two three 400 bucks it is to go play in a local qualifier for those listeners out there on the brothers brand podcast who are not familiar with this process but almost every tournament we watch on TV
Week in and week out not the Masters not the majors um but the majority of the PGA Tour events out there you can qualify you can qualify Rob can qualify I can qualify anybody can qualify to play in these events events but the process the way it works is about a week
And a half two weeks before the tournament starts there are a series of local events just at like a local public or indoor private golf course where again you pay a couple hundred bucks you get entered into playing a round of golf that is monitored and supervised to make
Sure that the scoring is accurate and there could be 20 people there could be 200 people there could be a thousand people that decide to want to pre-qualify for a PGA Tour event and they might have multiple locations it might not just be at one or two so down
In South Florida they have about four or five local courses where all these people that pony up the cash that have this pipe dream they go out and they Tee It Up For a Day and if they are top five on this Thursday or Friday event they
Will advance to what is known as the Monday qualifier so that’s what more golf people are probably commonly known um known known for is this Monday qualifier but how do you even get to the MonDay qualifier there’s a pre-qualifier for that so you show up on Monday you
Were one of top five people um at one of these local events the week prior and then you got to show up one more time and if you go top four in this Monday pre-qualifier then you get entered into one of four spots that are allocated
That given week on the PGA Tour event for a Monday qualifier and that’s typically where the story ends is somebody pre-qualified and they’re playing and they play Thursday and Friday they shoot 80 back-to-back days and they head home but not for Eric Cole and not for the final Honda Classic Eric
Cole balled out Thursday and Friday not only making the cut but leading the pack this story was galvanizing the golfing World last year and to think somebody a Monday qualifier could actually win a PGA Tour event well rob it didn’t happen but he came as close as you possibly
Could losing in playoff uh fashion to Chris Kirk but but it gave Eric Cole status on the PGA tour when you finish in the top five in a PGA Tour event you’re invited the following week in the following week and so you’re uh giving some sponsors exemptions and ultimately
Given an opportunity to earn a lot of cash and so that’s what Eric Cole’s been doing he made the most of it he became rookie of the year last year uh and I know he’s going to be coming out with a Vengeance this year to try to win his
Home event wow that was a inspir ational I didn’t know a lot of that so that’s really cool I think it was documented with Joel Damon last year with him in uh Brookline Mass or maybe two years ago uh when he had to qualify with the Netflix
Uh special they they showed that so um yeah man that is really cool stuff and yeah don’t give up on your dreams and now he’s playing on the tour he is and um you know let’s talk a little bit about this Con uh cognizant classic here
And I want to talk to uh the listeners Rob about the course itself oh yeah I mentioned before what what did you shoot you you’ve played it six times what what have you shot on there well I gotta tell you rob um this is a PGA tour course all
Right this isn’t your little mun down the street you go out with your buddies on a Sunday this is some big time golf here and depending on what time of year you play the course the rough could be higher really challenging the greens could be like putting up ice I get it
It’s it’s hard stop skating the question just give me a number it’s not that hard just tell me the number and we’ll move on to the course well you know Rob I want to give a number but number traditionally worked for me out there is um I almost always start off really well
And then eventually the wheels fall off Rob and so I’ve had some really great starts I’ve birdied the first one I’ve parred the second I’ve birdi the third I mean I’ve gotten through the first front nine in know in a reasonable respectable score but by the time I get to that bear
Trap Rob and that’s what this course is known for the bear trap it is no holds bars it is uh the teeth the teeth of the course show themselves and nobody nobody gets out of there alive and including yours truly so Rob this course I don’t know if
I’ve even broken a 100 I always play from the tips and so that’s sometimes my own stubbornness getting the best of me but I want to play it like a PGA tour pro plays it sure and so um it does play for the pros as a par
70 and it gets really windy the terrain down there just in Florida obviously there’s no mountains so wind kicks up storms blow through but something about this Champion Course and that’s the name of the course it’s one of five or six courses on property and the bear trap
Let me just are you gonna explain it right now you’re gonna you’re gonna walk through each hole no no no go for it talk to the listeners about this bear trap here it’s pretty pretty wild and it kicks off with this truly like massive bear statue they have this like you come
Up on the 15th hole and there’s this bear that’s like 10 feet tall it’s already daun it’s already getting in playing head games with you yep so here here’s some interesting stats on the bear trap uh it was named in in honor of Jack Nicholas um so it’s the uh 15th
16th and 17th holes very similar to amen similar but back in Amen Corner for the Masters Augusta National uh on the 15th hole is a par three overwater 179 yards very windy uh the 16th hole is a par 4 434 yards you go the water is all
Along the right side so you got to hit this into the left Fairway so there’s a fairway running up the leftand side you got to put it into the Fairway and then your second shot is going to have to be over water uh onto the green uh so water
Involved in both those holes and then the seven hole is the par 3 190 yards and that is directly over the water um kind of uh similar to the uh Players Championship on hole number 17 but without the Allure of the PLAYERS Championship so not not
So much an island but it’s uh it’s pretty daunting uh some stats on the Honda Classic since 2007 overpar scores 200 2571 on the trap 3,535 on the other 15 holes uh water wars as they call it 70 76% of players who have hit at least one ball in the
Water on the bear trap yeah it’s no joke there’s a lot of water on each of those holes I can confirm that my ball has found the water on all three of the holes at some point during the course of my career there um it’s challenge Rob
It’s a challenge it’s a bear it’s a brute it’s not where you want to be why they call it the bear trap well I’ll tell you what that’s why on Saturday Sunday Come the weekend it’ll be nice to be sitting on the couch watching from home watching the players go wild the
Fans enjoying it and Sunday Rob in particular is really the special day for this tournament not only does it conclude the event and we have a champion but it’s play Yellow Sunday and this tournament is all about the children’s hospitals of South Florida the Nicholas Children’s Health Care
Foundation which was started by Jack and his wife Barbara Nichols they just adamantly are passionate about the children down there and making sure that they have the health systems uh that they’re needed when unfortunate situations arise and so that’s been their life’s work and that’s what this tournament supports and
I think that’s why the PGA Tour really worked so hard to find a new sponsor and to keep this going because the beneficiary of the event really uh impacts the community there uh all of all these events do but this one really hits home with the kids down there in
South Florida and so uh yellow is for um children’s um cancer and other types of issues and so come Sunday you’ll see a lot of the players wearing yellow they’ll have the yellow ribbons on their hats and uh it’s really special it’s really nice and rub this tournament has
Already caught a lot of Headway and a lot of headlines more so than previous years not only does it get a new sponsor name not only is the field stacked but a Sir Mr Woods has been in the headlines coming up to to this year’s event but
Not Tiger Woods his son Charlie Woods 14-year-old freshman in high school Charlie Woods had attempted to compete in one of those pre-qualifier events that we talked about earlier on the episode that Eric Cole navigated so well last year and found himself into the actual tournament Charlie Woods
Attempted to participate in one of those unfortunately carding an 86 which frankly probably would have been a lot better than what you or I would have done but uh he played in Hope Sound uh course called Lost Lake Golf Club uh and as we mentioned before if you’re not in
The top four or five in those events you don’t move on so Charlie this was not his uh PGA Tour debut uh maybe someday he will uh make his debut at the cognizant classic but it’s not this year um with a stacked field and as we w wind
Down this episode of the brothers Brandt podcast I have to ask you Rob I need your pick I need to get to my bookie I need to put some shekel down as you like to say who should the listeners bet on let’s see field out there I am going to Go now I just need confirmation is Hadi matama gonna be in it Rob I did not see his name listed on the field that’s I thought he’s not listed I mean that win Riv was amazing exactly couple weeks back had a really big win out there in Los Angeles uh the
Tour then went down to Mexico for the Mexico open and now they’re getting ready for the Florida swing before we get into the players championship and all the fun things that come with the spring to me Victor hin Victor havin okay all right Rob is GNA go with Victor
Hin we are huge fans of Victor hin here on the podcast so that for us and the mpga tour would be a great champion of the inaugural cognizant classic Rob I’m gonna go with a good friend of ours he was on the podcast not too long ago he’s PGA Tour
Putting coach extraordinaire Mr Steven Sweeny he’s got a decorated roster his backyard is Palm Beach Gardens and so too is at home for ash batia all right this guy Rob we talked about him when was on exactly and we talked about it when Sweeney was
On this guy is just a fun player to watch a great dude he’s got his stroke that’s a good pick not just putting but driving he can shape the ball any way that right you know he said he’s great in the wind and it’s goingon to be windy
Down there so we’ll see that’s me exactly so he’s my pick Rob I would uh I would anticipate him hoisting the cognizant classic championship trophy on Sunday afternoon on NBC you heard it here first on the brothers brand P podcast batia wins it uh in uh in dramatic fashion Palm Beach Garden
Doesn’t get better than that I like it all right hey Rick this has been a great podcast but I gotta go you gotta go we got diapers to change we sure do Rob for all you listeners out there I’m Rick Brandt I’m Rob brand and we’re the brothers brand thanks for listening
