Rookie winner keeps pace with McIlroy
One of the perks of winning on the PGA Tour is better tee times. Just ask Jake Knapp, who went from the outhouse to the penthouse in one week.
Knapp, a 29-year-old rookie who was working as a bouncer at a bar-restaurant in Southern California just two years ago to make ends meet, teed off in the third-to-last group of his wave last week in the opening rounds at the Mexico Open at Vidanta. That’s when the greens are bumpier and riddled with spike marks and the wind blows its hardest. None of that bothered Knapp, who won the tournament. Along with the seven-figure check and berth in the Masters, Knapp received a primo tee time for the first two rounds of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches alongside former world No. 1 and 2012 Cognizant Classic winner Rory McIlroy and defending Cognizant Classic champion Chris Kirk. How did Knapp feel playing in one of the featured groups in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, alongside McIlroy, one of the game’s biggest stars?
“Not nearly as nerve-wracking as I thought it was going to be, to be honest,” Knapp said. “I met him this morning in dining and had some casual conversation, and he’s a super, super nice guy. So is Chris. It was a good easy morning.”
Indeed, it was for Knapp, a UCLA product, who opened with a solid 3-under-par 68 at PGA National Resort’s Champion Course on Thursday, one stroke more than McIlroy and Kirk and four back of the lead.
Knapp grew up idolizing Tiger Woods. He also admired the game of former world No. 1’s Luke Donald and Dustin Johnson. Knapp, who grew to become one of the longer hitters in the game, was short in stature as a kid and tried to emulate Donald’s wizardry with a wedge and putter until hitting his growth spurt as a junior in high school.
“Then as I started to hit it farther, started to transition more into the DJ category,” Knapp said. “Obviously over the last few years, a lot of people have tried to emulate Rory and just all the things he does on and off the course.”
While the Northern Irishman outdrove him on this day – an average of 327 yards for McIlroy to 319 yards for Knapp on the two measured driving holes – he couldn’t say enough good things about Knapp. “He could definitely be a star. It looks like he’s got the full package. He’s obviously got the speed. He can control that speed pretty well. He hit some beautiful shots out there today,” McIlroy said. “He could be a superstar out here, for sure.”
The Knapp, McIlroy, Kirk grouping weren’t the only scores in red figures from the morning wave at a typically stingy course. McIlroy was pleased with his 67 but still trailed by three strokes on a day where the Jack Nicklaus design and the infamous three-hole stretch known as the Bear Trap, starting at the water-laden par-3 15th, was vulnerable to low scoring.
“Probably as easy as it’ll play all week, if I had to guess,” said Chad Ramey. He took advantage by making five birdies on the front nine and posting a 64. Ramey, who had never shot in the 60s in four previous rounds at PGA National, sank a 27-foot birdie putt at the first hole and chipped in at No. 6 to set the early pace. He finished a stroke better than five other players, including Cameron Young, who is still seeking his first Tour title.