The Florida Swing is where 54-hole leads went to die. None of the leaders who slept on the lead – or a share of it – ended up hoisting the trophy on Sunday. Shane Lowry coughed up the Cognizant Classic with late water balls while Austin Smotherman was stuck in neutral and got passed early, Daniel Berger had a five-stroke lead at the turn but got caught by Akshay Bhatia and succumbed in a playoff at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Ludvig Aberg rinsed two shots at Nos. 11 and 12 at the Players Championship and became a non-factor down the stretch, while Sungjae Im ejected on the front nine at the Valspar Championship, going out in 40, to make it a clean sweep.
Grades are out for the Florida Swing! Let’s take a closer look at who thrived, who barely passed and who better get their games in gear for the upcoming Texas two-step before the Masters beckons.
Cameron Young: A
Was it the breakthrough win at Wyndham or the Ryder Cup bump? Either way, the way he won the Players confirmed he’s finally developing into the player we thought he could be. T-3 at API too in his other Florida Swing start. He wanted to get in contention ahead of the Masters and he’s done just that.
Matt Fitzpatrick: A
Nearly won the Players and one week later showed his mettle with birdies on two of the last four holes to grab the Valspar by its neck. The winner of the 2022 U.S. Open looks primed to chase another major this season. T-41 at API in his other Florida Swing start feels like a distant memory.
Nico Echavarria: A-
Echavarria is a big game hunter. When he gets a sniff of the lead, he knows how to finish and did so again at Cognizant. T-44 at API and T-66 at Players suggests there is work still to be done to achieve greater consistency in his game week to week.
Jacob Bridgeman: A-
Followed up his win at Riviera with three top-20s: T-18 at API, T-5 at Players, T-14 at Valspar. Now has finished T-18 or better in all eight starts this season, which is Scotty-esque. He’s made a big leap forward this season.
Xander Schauffele: A-
T-24 at API, T-3 Players, T-4 at Valspar is a solid Florida Swing. Very flat in the third round at Players and rounds 2 and 3 in Tampa cost him being a serious contender for the trophy hunt. But way better than last year and trending.
Akshay Bhatia. B+
The win at API showed he’s got the goods. T-13 at Players was solid a week later. Would have been graded higher but WD at Valspar is baked into the grade.
Daniel Berger: B+
Played some beautiful golf at Arnie’s Place. Lost a big lead on the back nine but gritty par save to force the playoff with Bhatia. Feels like he will get back to the winner’s circle soon and should be on U.S. President Cup captain Brandt Snedeker’s radar because he’s always been feisty in the team competitions. T-32 at Cognizant and T-66 at Players.
Bob MacIntyre: B+
His fourth-place finish at Players showed again that Big Shot Bob rises to the occasion. He wants the ball late in the game and he’s fun to watch when he gets that look in his eye.
Ludvig Aberg: B
A T-3 at API and T-5 at Players. His Friday 63 at Players showed why many think he will be the player to challenge Scottie for world No. 1, but his back-nine collapse at TPC Sawgrass is cause for concern. Will be glued to the set to see how he responds next time he’s got a 54-hole lead.
Sepp Straka: B
Solid if unspectacular with a T-13 at API and T-8 at Players. Unclear why he skipped Cognizant, site of first win, other than needed a week off during a busy stretch. He seems poised to do something bigger on the week things really click.
Patrick Rodgers and Keith Mitchell: B
They are this season’s cut kings. Rodgers is 9-for-9 and Mitchell 8-for-8 this season and pushing to be fixtures in the top 50. Both understand points are currency come August. Rodgers getting a lift from pairing with Bill Harke, one of the more underrated caddies in the game.
Corey Conners: B
To borrow a line of former NFL coach Dennis Green, he is who we think he is, a guy who plays his best on tough, demanding courses. He striped it to the tune of T-33 at API, T-13 at Players, T-14 at Valspar.
AJ Ewart: B
The Canadian earned his card at Q-School and is showing he belongs. Earned his best result at Valspar, a T-11. Also a T-13 at Cognizant. He’s made six of eight cuts this season.
Viktor Hovland: B-
Missed Cut in his title defense at Valspar as the driver is still a concern. Pair of T-13s in his first two starts since latest coaching change was encouraging.
Shane Lowry: C+
Lowry’s collapse was the toughest to watch on the Florida Swing because he had been striking it so well all day. He also kicked away a chance to win in Dubai in January. Disconcerting, indeed. Followed up with two stinky performances at API and Players that gave him the weekend off. Hopefully he had a memorable St. Patrick’s Day.
Scottie Scheffler: C+
My level of concern is low but T-24 at API and T-22 at Players at two tournaments that he’s one twice each still is notable. Feels like gas was under $2 a gallon and we were all wearing masks in public last time he spent two weeks in a row outside the top 20. Expect him to get his driver figured out and be back to hoisting trophies as soon as this week in Houston. Regardless, he’s still the Masters favorite.
Rory McIlroy: C
The WD at Bay Hill with a back injury makes this a tricky one to grade. Certainly impacted his defense at Players. Highlight was winning the Seminole Pro-Member with his dad but his Ball Frogs losing to Jup Links at TGL was no bueno. He’s 4-for-4 cuts made heading to Augusta but not the same skip in his step as a year ago. Surprised he’s saying he won’t play Houston or San Antonio ahead of the Masters to get one more good result under his belt before serving up his Champions Dinner.
Keegan Bradley: C-
Missed cut and T-50 and T-55 in Florida continue a sluggish start to the season for the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, which includes three MCs in seven starts and no better than T-29.
Jake Knapp: D
He was electric on the west coast but one MC and a WD has quieted the Masters hype for one of the sweetest swings in golf.
Pierceson Coody: F
Two missed cuts and a T-55 have knocked him from 45th in the world to No. 51 and needing a strong result this week (or win next week if he fails to improve his ranking before this week’s OWGR cutoff) to earn a Masters invite. His grandfather Charles, you may have heard once or three times, is a past champion.
Ben Griffin: F
Three missed cuts in his three starts. Enough said.
Tom Hoge: F
Missed the cut at both of his Florida Swing starts on heels of MC at Riviera. Wasting good putting (8th) and success on par 4s: he’s third in birdies this season. He’s traditionally an ATM at Players but this year had one of the ugliest holes at TPC’s 7th that we’ve seen in a while.
Johnny Keefer: F
Three missed cuts in Florida. Nothing better than T-27 this season. OWGR has fallen 30 spots to 75th since start of the year. You’re in the big leagues now, kid.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: PGA Tour Florida Swing grades for top golfers
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