Knapp became just the 15th player in PGA Tour history to card a 59 or better this week in Florida
Ryan Young Staff writer
Jake Knapp was on pace to back up one of the best rounds in golf history on Sunday afternoon.
But just like that, he saw his chance at a victory completely slip away down the stretch at PGA National.
Knapp, who fired a historic 59 to open the week in Palm Beach Gardens, stumbled down the stretch and ended up finishing T6 at the Cognizant Classic on Sunday. He shot a final-round 72, which dropped him to 15-under overall.
Joe Highsmith, who carded a bogey-free 64 on Sunday, ended up taking a two-shot win. It was first career win on the PGA Tour, and made him the first golfer since 2016 to win an event after making the cut on the number. That earned him a spot in next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Masters and all remaining Signature Events this season.
Knapp’s biggest issue on Sunday came at the 11th, when he landed just barely in the water near the green on his approach shot. Instead of taking a drop, Knapp took off his right shoe and rolled up his pant leg in order to try and hit the ball out of the water successfully. That strategy didn’t work, and resulted in him carding a triple bogey and dropping him out of contention almost immediately.
“I just think in the moment, even now I don’t take it back,” Knapp said when asked if he talked about taking a drop instead. “It’s just one of those shots you just have to end up hitting a little bit harder than I did.”
Knapp came just a shot shy of matching the PGA Tour’s all-time record in the first round on Thursday. He started his round off with five straight birdies to propel him to the 12-under 59. He just barely missed a birdie putt at the 17th, too, and then narrowly missed an eagle putt at the last.
Knapp is just the 15th player in Tour history to card a 59 or better in a round, and the first since Hayden Springer did so at the John Deere Classic last summer. Jim Furyk set the PGA Tour record with a 58 at the Travelers Championship in 2016.
That gave Knapp a three-shot lead when he hit the clubhouse. His lead dwindled to one after he posted a 70 on Friday, which included a double-bogey, and then he rallied back from a three-shot hole on Saturday to regain the one-shot lead after a chaotic moving day that saw 10 different players hold at least a share of the lead.
