Jake Knapp made PGA National look like your average municipal course on Thursday.
The 30-year-old shot a 12-under, bogey-free 59 in the first round of the Cognizant Classic – formerly known as the Honda Classic.
Knapp came out of the gates red-hot, birdieing each of his first five holes; he had chipped in on two, and on the par-three fifth, he stuck a tee shot from 194 yards away to just three and a half feet.
He came back down to earth temporarily, parring the next three, but he then birdied six of his next seven. He again stuck a tee shot to inside four feet on the par-three ninth, and on the 15th, another par 3, he drilled a birdie putt from over 31 feet away.
Through 15 holes, Knapp was 11 under par, but he would par his next two holes, needing a birdie on the par-five 18th to break 60.
That was no issue. After a 335-yard drive, he hit the green from roughly 200 yards out. He narrowly missed an eagle putt that would have been just the second 58 in PGA Tour history, but it’s the 15th 59 ever on tour.
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It’s also the sixth time in PGA history that anyone has gone 12-under in one round, joining Scottie Scheffler, Jim Furyk (twice), Paul Goydos and Hayden Springer.
It was a 29 on the front and a 30 on the back for Knapp.
Knapp reached each par-5 in two shots, and he knocked nearly 70 feet worth of birdie putts on par-3s and 4s. He then drilled all six of his putts from between 6 and 12 feet on the day.
One would assume correctly that Knapp is the leader in the clubhouse at the moment, with three others closest behind him at eight-under.
Knapp has one PGA Tour victory under his belt – the 2024 Mexico Open, one year and one day to his 59; he competed in his first three majors last year, finishing T55 at the Masters and missing the cut at both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.
But, perhaps this could be a confidence booster.
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