Florida Swing Yielded Much-Needed Volatility

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.

Unless you were one of the many players (and bettors) undone by the severe influx of volatility which occurred on the PGA Tour during the past month, otherwise known as the Florida Swing.

In that case, feel free to continue crying.

One of the great things about being a fan of professional golf is that if a certain tournament doesn’t grab your interest, there’s always another just a few days away.

That’s why there are forty-something events on the PGA Tour schedule each year — if they were all the same, we wouldn’t need more than just a few.

Please excuse my idyllic worldview, but there’s truly something for everyone, whether you love birdie-fests in dome-like conditions or you prefer watching the world’s best players get bludgeoned by gnarly rough and runway greens.

If given the choice, I believe the majority would choose the latter. Misery loves company and anyone posting a 107 at the local muni on Sunday morning wants to keep things at least somewhat relatable when they turn on their televisions afterward.

That said, I’ve always believed that golf fans were a bit misguided as to what they actually want to watch.

Sure, we all enjoy a proper weekend bloodletting at the U.S. Open each year, but the reality is that we don’t want to watch the best players suffer on a regular basis.

We just want some volatility, which is exactly what we got during the Florida Swing.

Maybe PGA National played too easy – OK, it definitely played too easy, considering those who shot 63 in the opening round trailed by four entering Friday – but it’s impossible to argue the variance at this year’s Cognizance Classic, where Joe Highsmith became just the fourth player in the past two decades to make the cut on the number and win the golf tournament.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational might wind up having the swiftest two-shot swing of the entire year, when Russell Henley zoomed a chip into the bottom of the cup on the 70th hole of the event, reversing a one-shot deficit to Collin Morikawa into a one-shot lead and eventual victory.

TPC Sawgrass is the annual venue of volatility – and this one didn’t disappoint. Just in case Justin Thomas’ opening two rounds of 78-62 didn’t prove the point that poor shots can be penalized and good shots can be rewarded, then Rory McIlroy’s three-shot lead on Sunday’s back-nine, which evaporated, then turned into a convincing playoff win when he still posted just 1-over for the three-hole aggregate surely did.

And speaking of back-nine leads, that’s exactly what Thomas had at the Valspar Championship, as he also nearly won after making the cut on the number, then played his final three holes in 2-over and lost by a stroke to Viktor Hovland.

At no point during any of these four tournaments could we have muttered, “Seen this movie before…” and moved onto something else. In every instance, birdie remained a possibility for the contenders, while bogeys perilously lurked.

Some might insist that a tournament only owns elite-level entertainment value if the best of the best are all competing against each other. Others maintain that only the most important events are worthy of such praise.

I’ve long believed, though, that a setup which is tough but fair, one with perhaps equal probabilities of birdies and bogeys on every hole, can provide the ultimate viewing experience for those who are fans of the game.

That’s what the annual Florida Swing so often provides – and it more than lived up to its reputation once again this year.