Less than two years ago, Jake Knapp was ranked 1,476th in the world and was working for a time doing security duty at a southern California night spot to fund a golf career that was looking for traction.
Knapp’s world view has changed dramatically these days with his victory Sunday in the Mexico Open at Vidanta, where he held off Sami Välimäki of Finland for his first PGA Tour win.
It was just the ninth career PGA Tour start for the 29-year-old, who played college golf at UCLA. Knapp started the final round with a four-stroke lead, saw it evaporate completely early in the closing nine only to separate himself coming home with some brilliant short-game work.
“I didn’t necessarily have my best stuff today. I knew it was going to be nerve-racking; it was going to be tough,” said Knapp, who finished at 19-under-par 265, two better than Välimäki, who was trying to become the first player from Finland to win on the PGA Tour.
Knapp set himself up to win on Saturday when he shot 28 on the front nine and wound up making 11 birdies while shooting a third-round 63.
Closing out his first tour victory turned out to be challenging for Knapp. After hitting 33 of 39 fairways through the first three rounds, Knapp found the short grass just twice on Sunday, the fewest hit by a winner in the final round since 1983.
It was good enough to get it done, however. Tied with six holes remaining, Välimäki bogeyed the 13th to fall behind by one before Knapp stretched his lead to two with a birdie at the 14th.
“I’m super pumped about how I played the last three holes,” Knapp said.
Knapp has his maternal grandfather’s initials tattooed on his left arm to honor Gordon Bowley, who died last April. Knapp said he texted his grandfather after every competitive round and has continued to do that even after his passing.
Asked what his grandfather would say to him about the victory, Knapp said: “He’d be pretty pumped.”
Knapp restructured his career path with his victory. He finished T3 at the Farmers Insurance Open last month and narrowly missed qualifying for the past two signature events at Pebble Beach and Riviera. Sunday’s victory, worth $1.458 million from the $8.1 million purse, landed Knapp a spot in all four majors, the Players Championship and the remaining signature events.
Välimäki earned his tour privileges by virtue of finishing in the top 10 of the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai rankings last year, when he won the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. With his runner-up finish, Välimäki took a big step toward securing his status for 2025.
Ron Green Jr.