Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – American Jake Knapp carded the 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history on Thursday with a 59 in the first round of the Cognizant Classic at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida. The 30-year-old poured in 12 birdies in his bogey-free round at PGA National, making a birdie on the last green to join the small club of players to break 60 on tour. Knapp’s birdie bonanza started with a nine-foot birdie putt at the first hole to launch a run of five consecutive birdies to open his round. A birdie on the ninth saw him play the outward half in six-under 30.
Five more birdies in the first six holes of the back nine set up a chance for a 59, which he took on the par-five 18th, where he reached the green in two and two-putted to join the sub-60 club. “I knew, obviously, I had it going really early, but at the same time that can happen and then it can kind of fizzle out pretty quick,” said Knapp, who claimed his only PGA Tour title to date at the Mexico Open last February. “I thought I did a good job of just trying to focus on shot-by-shot and not letting what happened or what could happen affect anything.”
Related news
After rolling in a 31-foot birdie putt at the par-three 15th to cap a run of three straight birdies, Knapp said he told himself, “OK, now this is kind of here.” “But at the same time, didn’t let it affect the game plan or anything like that,” added Knapp. “Tried to hit an aggressive shot into 16, 17 and 18.” He knew a birdie at the last would give him a 59, but Knapp said he wasn’t thinking about that. “I think you start thinking about it too much, you’re just going to add pressure to something that’s very unnecessary,” said Knapp, who admitted he still felt he might have let a stroke or two get away.
“It’s like I’ll still think tonight about how it should have been 58 or 57 or 56,” Knapp said. “Fifty-nine is great, but you always could technically do better. Whether I shoot 89 or 59, I’m going to come back out and do my job tomorrow.” Former US Open champion Jim Furyk holds the record for the lowest ever PGA Tour round with a 58 at the 2016 Travelers Championship. Furyk also has one of the 59s, posted on the way to a third-place finish at the 2013 BMW Championship.
Knapp’s spectacular round gave him a four-shot lead over former champion Russell Henley, Daniel Berger, and Finland’s Sami Valimaki, who all shot 63. Former champions Rickie Fowler and Keith Mitchell were among a group of six players sharing fifth place on seven-under 64.
© 2024 AFP
