It happened during the morning round of the first day of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beach: Jake Knapp delivered an impressive scorecard of 59 strokes on the Champion course at PGA National (par 71), twelve under for the day, and is the provisional and outstanding leader of the tournament, awaiting the conclusion of the afternoon round, although it doesn’t seem like anyone will be able to surpass, match, or even come close to his score…
And that’s despite players tearing apart the legendary Florida course. In fact, if the wind doesn’t pick up, we’ll have to see if the 65-stroke scorecards can stay within the top ten. But, with the circuit’s history in hand, it would be almost crazy to see two scorecards under sixty strokes in the same round of the same tournament.
It’s worth noting that this 59 by Californian Knapp is the fifteenth scorecard under 60 strokes in the history of the PGA Tour, since Al Geiberger signed the first in 1977, including the legendary 58 by Jim Furyk at the Travelers (2016), which remains the leading result in the circuit’s history. The average doesn’t even come out to a 59 every three years, although perhaps times are changing, as just last year there were two 59 scorecards: one by Cameron Young at the Travelers and another by Hayden Springer at the John Deere.
Knapp is seeking his second victory on the PGA Tour after winning just a year ago in Mexico in his rookie season. In fact, last week he was defending his title at the Mexican Open and was already indicating that his game was definitely on the right track, solid and ready. His title defense ended with a final 25th place, but this week, in Florida, he has started off with a bang: last year, right after winning in Mexico, he finished fourth in this tournament with a total of -13… Today, after just one round, he’s already at -12.
Jake also had a chance to putt for eagle on the 18th hole. Had he sunk that putt from about five and a half metres, he would have matched Furyk’s 58. He started today with five consecutive birdies, mainly due to superb tee-to-green play, although he holed one for birdie on the 2nd hole from off the green, about 18 metres from the flag. He made the most of those 16 greens in regulation- And now let’s see who can take him down from up there.
