PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Jake Knapp will never forget the 2025 Cognizant Classic.
That’s because of the good and the bad.
The 30-year-old Californian opened the week by shooting 59—the 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history.
He propelled that magical round into a one-stroke, 54-hole lead at PGA National.
Knapp then had a steady front nine Sunday, shooting 1 under—and he started the back nine with a birdie.
Then, the par-4 11th happened.
Knapp’s approach with a wedge fell just short, settling in the shallow water. Instead of taking of drop, he tried to escape trouble with his foot in the nasty stuff, but his attempt trickled back down. On the second go-round, his ball settled in the upslope rough aside the green. When it was over, he had a triple-bogey 7 that sent him tumbling down the leaderboard.
Trouble in the mud for Jake Knapp on 11.
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) March 2, 2025
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He finished T6, four shots behind winner Joe Highsmith.
Did he ever consider a drop?
“Not really,” Knapp said. “I just think in the moment, even now I don’t take it back. It’s just one of those shots you just have to end up hitting a little bit harder than I did.”
And Knapp didn’t think the shot was as hard as it looked.
“It’s just like soft sand and rocks and things like that,” he said. “It feels like the club gets through fine, the ball just doesn't come through with anything on it.”
Despite the disappointing finish, Knapp said the 59 will “hold a special place in my heart,” and he didn’t feel any pressure to become the sixth player to shoot 59 and go on to win.
But after 72 holes, the good outweighs the bad.
“That I wish I had that shot back on 11,” Knapp said. “I think other than that, I’ll think about the 59, obviously, but it’s not that that shot is going to haunt me or anything like that, but for the most part I’m really happy with how I hit it and felt like I just played super solid today except for just one hole.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as After Shooting 59, Jake Knapp Fumbles Cognizant Classic With Mucky Triple Bogey.
