The best at handling the TOUR's Florida swing

The PGA TOUR moves east to Florida for The Honda Classic, beginning a stretch of four consecutive weeks of events in the Sunshine State.

After record-breaking scoring in Hawaii and California to begin the year, will the birdie parade march on? The numbers say no. Each of the last nine seasons, the Florida Swing has consisted of at least two of the five toughest non-major championship venues on the PGA TOUR that season. Last year, PGA National (Champion) played as the third most difficult non-major venue all season, with the field averaging more than a stroke over par per round.

For the many players who excel on these tough Florida layouts, though, that’s welcome news. Twenty First Group combed through decades of performance and scoring data to analyze who brings their best game to the PGA TOUR’s Florida Swing.

SUNGJAE IM

There are nearly 600 players with 40 or more PGA TOUR rounds played in the state of Florida over the last 40 seasons. Of that group, only Tiger Woods (69.82) maintains a better scoring average than Sungjae Im (70.21).

Over the last decade, only Woods has averaged more Strokes Gained: Total per round in Florida than Im. The South Korea native has excelled all over the golf course when in Florida, too: Woods and Im are the only two players with 20 or more rounds played in Florida in the last decade to average 0.8 Strokes Gained or more in both ball striking (off the tee + approach play) and short game (around the green + putting). Im ranks No. 8 in that group in bogey avoidance, a statistic in which he leads the PGA TOUR so far this season.

Im has the best scoring average (69.25) all-time at PGA National among players with at least 10 rounds played in The Honda Classic. In his 2020 victory at the event, Im gained more than three full strokes on the field tee-to-green per round.

TOMMY FLEETWOOD

One of the game’s most accomplished global players yet to earn a PGA TOUR win, Tommy Fleetwood has played some of his best stateside golf in Florida. Since 2017, Fleetwood ranks in the top-10 in Florida events in Strokes Gained: Total, Strokes Gained: Ball Striking and Strokes Gained: Off the Tee.

He has especially shined at this week’s event, The Honda Classic. In two starts, a grand total of five players have finished ahead of him (he finished fourth and third). Of the 101 players with eight or more rounds at PGA National since 2018, nobody has a better scoring average than Fleetwood.

SAM BURNS

Through his young PGA TOUR career, Sam Burns has been a very good putter. Each of the last three seasons, he has ranked in the top-30 in Strokes Gained: Putting per round, capped off by a top-10 ranking a season ago. But move Burns onto the consistent Bermuda putting surfaces in Florida, and he turns into some kind of Faxon-esque flat-stick savant.

Burns has averaged a staggering 1.28 Strokes Gained: Putting per round in his career in Florida, the best average by any player with 20 or more rounds since 2018. Across the remainder of the TOUR slate, Burns averages 0.27 Strokes Gained: Putting per round.

COREY CONNERS

The venues on the Florida Swing are typically more demanding from a ball-striking perspective, especially when the wind picks up. Since 2010, players who win the four Florida staples (The Honda Classic, Valspar Championship, THE PLAYERS Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational) have an average Strokes Gained: Approach rank of 11.7. That’s a bit better than at all other PGA TOUR venues in that same span (13.5).

Corey Conners has played just 30 PGA TOUR rounds in Florida so far in his career, but his strong approach play has spoken for itself. Conners has averaged 0.86 Strokes Gained: Approach per round in Florida, an average that trails only Tiger Woods and Talor Gooch. Conners finished third and seventh in back-to-back weeks last season at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and THE PLAYERS Championship.

RORY McILROY

With wins at three different PGA TOUR stops in Florida, it’s no surprise that Rory McIlroy is among the Sunshine State statistical leaders across the past decade. Since 2012, among players with 20 or more rounds in Florida, McIlroy leads all players in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green per round (+1.69). He’s also No. 2 in performance off the tee and No. 3 in Strokes Gained: Total.

McIlroy has finished in the top-10 at Bay Hill Club and Lodge each of the last five years, including a victory in 2018.

VIKTOR HOVLAND

Fueled by a pair of top-three finishes last year in Florida, Viktor Hovland is atop several statistical lists here in recent years. Hovland is gaining 1.14 strokes on the field per round with his ball striking, about a quarter of a stroke more than any other player since 2019. He also leads all players in birdies or better per round and Strokes Gained: Total per round in Florida in that span.

HARRY HIGGS

While the high finishes haven’t been there in Harry Higgs’ four PGA TOUR starts in Florida, the underlying numbers are undeniable. Of the 92 players with a dozen or more PGA TOUR rounds in Florida since 2019, Higgs leads in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+0.91 per round). He’s also 10th in Strokes Gained: Approach and No. 4 in Strokes Gained: Total in that span.

At The Honda Classic last year, Higgs led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and ranked No. 3 in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green. If his putter cooperates over the next few weeks, Higgs could be in for a lucrative run in Florida.