Jake Knapp of Costa Mesa, California has won his first career PGA event. On Sunday, he won the 2024 Mexican Open from the Vidanta Vallarta course by shooting a four-round score of -19.
Knapp shot a first round score of four-under-par 67, second round score of seven-under-par 64, third round score of eight-under-par 63, and a fourth round score of even par.
It was the middle two rounds where Knapp was at his finest. In the second round, he had seven birdies and zero bogeys. Knapp birdied the first, sixth, seventh, eighth, 11th, 15th and 16th holes. In the third round, Knapp had 11 birdies and three bogeys. He birdied the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth, 11th, 12th, 17th, and 18th holes, and bogeyed the 10th, 14th, and 16th holes. Then in the fourth round, Knapp got off to a slow start as he bogeyed the first and third holes, before registering birdies on the seventh and 14th holes. Sami Valimaki of Nokia, Finland was alone in second place at -17, and two strokes back.
With the win, Knapp moved from 101st in the world to 52nd. The 49 place improvement is one of the most significant rises in the world rankings since Ludvig Aberg of Sweden’s meteoric rise from 3064 in 2022 to 11 as of Sunday.
In a fun fact, Knapp is sponsored by the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. He has the Ducks logo on the sleeve of his golf shirt. On Sunday during the Ducks’s game against the Nashville Predators, the Ducks Public Relations Department congratulated Knapp on the Jumbotron.
For FREE!
