Jake Knapp signed for the 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history on Thursday, shooting a 59 at PGA National and setting the course record in the process.
It’s also the first sub-60 score on the PGA Tour shot within the state of Florida, according to golf statistician Justin Ray.
Knapp birdied his first five holes, which included a chip-in birdie on the par-4 2nd. You had a feeling that Knapp would produce something special at the Cognizant Classic on Thursday — he had everything going his way.
The former UCLA Bruin then made pars on the 6th, 7th, and 8th holes, but turned on the jets again as he made the turn. Birdies followed on the 9th, 10th, and 11th. He then had another stretch of three consecutive birdie makes on the 13th, 14th, and 15th holes, the last of which came via a 31-foot make. That was the only putt Knapp made outside of 12 feet, proving how well he played from tee-to-green. Knapp found 12-of-14 fairways, leads the field in strokes gained off the tee and in strokes gained approaching the green. He was dialed in, sticking his iron and wedges close to the hole on countless occasions.
“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,” Knapp said.
“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. Then once I made the long putt on 15, it was like, okay, now this is kind of here.”
After rolling in his birdie putt on the 15th, Knapp made a pair of two-putt pars on the 16th and 17th holes. He had an excellent look for birdie on the 17th, but it lipped out at the end. Still, Knapp knew he had a terrific chance to break 60, given that the 18th plays as a straightforward par-5.
But he did not want to let history get to his head.
“I didn’t really think about it, to be honest with you. I think you start thinking about it too much, you’re just going to add pressure to something that’s very unnecessary,” Knapp said about how he felt walking up 18 on Thursday.
“At the same time, if it was Sunday and the tournament was coming down to the line, it might be different, but at the same time it’s Thursday morning and I’m doing my best to just put myself in position going into the weekend. Tried to just focus on the shot at hand and trust what I was doing all day.”
With a clear mind, Knapp hit a towering 331-yard drive that split the fairway on the 18th. From there, he launched a gorgeous iron shot that landed softly and settled 18 feet away from the hole. If he makes it, he would shoot a 58, thus matching the lowest score in PGA Tour history. But his eagle try missed on the low side. Knapp tapped in for birdie, therefore settling for a splendid 59.
Given that PGA National is a par-71, Knapp sits atop the leaderboard at 12-under par and holds a four-shot lead as of this writing.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
