PGA Tour rookie Jake Knapp is now the PGA Tour champion, beating rookie Sami Valimaki by two strokes on Sunday after shooting 19-under this week. Sami Valimaki, won the Mexican Open.
Knapp started the round with a four-shot advantage, but let the lead slip away as his driver – the foundation of his first three rounds – betrayed him. Knapp hit two fairways in 18 holes on Sunday, becoming the first PGA Tour player since 1983 to hit two or fewer fairways in the final round and win. Knapp hit 33 of 39 fairways Thursday through Saturday.
Still, he sealed the win on No. 18 when he hit his ball into a left fairway bunker. Valimaki needed an eagle to make the playoffs, but failed — his hard drive hit the right lane of the cart and landed under the fence. Valimaki immediately started asking how much cushion he had against the trio at third. Moments later, Knapp shot par and raised his arms in triumph.
“Just playing hard,” Knapp told NBC of his final round.
Knapp, 29, is one such professional golf grinder. His skills were always there — he shot a 58 on his home course in high school, then shot a 61 in U.S. Open qualifying and eventually enrolled at UCLA — but he turned pro in 2016 But it was hard to get attention later.
Three years ago, he did not have any tour qualifications and worked as a security guard in nightclubs. But he took advantage of his conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour to finish 13th in the overall season standings in 2023 and receive a PGA Tour card for the season.
Last month, he tied for third at the Farmers Insurance Open and tied for 28th at the WM Phoenix Open. He then shot a 67 in the first round at Vidanta, a 64 on Friday and a 63 on Saturday to lead Vallimaki by four strokes heading into the final round. Only three players were within seven strokes of the leader.
Knapp, ranked No. 125 in the world according to DataGolf.com, stumbled out of the gate with bogeys on Nos. 1 and 3 and soon found himself tied with Valimaki, who Markey had a birdie and an eagle on the front nine.
Knapp finally steadied himself, winning by one shot over his rival when he made par on the 13th and Vallimaki bogeyed, and then when he made a 100% win on the par-5 14th, He made birdie, and when Valimaki finally made par, he gave himself another shot.
Knapp won $1.458 million. He will compete in next month’s Masters and PGA Championships, as well as the Players Championship. He is now also fully exempt for the 2026 PGA Tour season and will play in all signature events for the remainder of the year.
(Jack Knapp Photo: Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
