The Bear Trap whisperer Andrew Novak keeps rolling at PGA National

Six years ago, Andrew Novak played PGA National’s famed "Bear Trap" without a bogey for four rounds. He was the only player to do so at the 2018 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, an event into which he Monday qualified as a conditional Korn Ferry Tour member.

Back then, the Wofford alum proved to himself that he could hang on the PGA TOUR. This week, he’ll chase his first TOUR title in South Florida.

Novak opened the Cognizant Classic in 6-under 65, on the leaderboard’s first page on a docile Thursday morning at PGA National’s Champion course. He started off fast with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 10 and 11, played The Bear Trap in 1-under (again proving his mettle on the water-logged sequence) and added a birdie on 18 to turn in 4-under 32. He added a 7-foot eagle at the par-5 third and a birdie at 4 before dropping a shot at the treacherous par-3 seventh.

Novak knew Thursday’s calm conditions made for a scoring situation, which might not be the case later in the week. He took advantage.

“It is very hard to make birdies out here when it's windy, so I kind of knew going into today, today was going to be the one day where it wasn't that windy, and this is your chance to get some birdies, get them early,” said Novak, who was born in Raleigh, North Carolina and spent a large part of his upbringing outside Charleston, South Carolina.

“The rest of the week might be a little bit more of a par-fest.”

Novak entered the week showing some good form, having notched back-to-back T8s at the WM Phoenix Open and Mexico Open at Vidanta. Amidst the stadium setting at TPC Scottsdale, he played in the final group for the third and fourth rounds alongside Sahith Theegala and eventual winner Nick Taylor. Novak entered this week at No. 63 on the FedExCup standings, with the top 70 after the Wyndham Championship in August qualifying for the FedExCup Playoffs.

That’s a long way out, but it’s perhaps the next step in Novak’s career evolution. He earned his first TOUR card via the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour’s season-long standings, then retained conditional status after finishing in the 126-150 category on the 2022 FedExCup. Last season, he finished No. 122 on the FedExCup Fall standings to narrowly retain his full card via the top 125.

He sweated out the bubble at the end, but it ultimately meant entering 2024 with his best status to date on TOUR.

“I didn’t play well in the fall, which led to a super stressful fall … I was kind of burned out,” Novak said. “December, I didn’t really touch a club at all … I probably came into Sony (Open in Hawaii) a little but unprepared.

“(The WM Phoenix Open) is where I really rolled in, was really feeling good with the game.”

It took Novak a few years on the Korn Ferry Tour to ascend to a position as one of the circuit’s top players, and he’s following the same trend line on TOUR. There's no reason to rush in a marathon-type career; just get a little bit better each day.

The 2018 Cognizant Classic marked Novak’s second TOUR start; he had missed the cut at The RSM Classic the prior fall in his adopted hometown of St. Simons Island, Georgia. That week, he finished T57 at PGA National with rounds of 75-70-73-70. He next played the Cognizant in 2022, missing the cut, but he finished a solid T29 last year.

He’ll look to improve on that mark come Sunday. So far, so good.