PALM BEACH GARDENS — If Jake Knapp had a legendary caddie like Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay, one with enough cred whose word resonates a bit more with the boss, maybe he would be in possession of the crystal trophy today that goes to the winner of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches.
At the very least, he would be playing this week in a $20 million tournament.
As it is, the man known as “Mr. 59” this week imploded on the 11th hole Sunday, one that played about a quarter of a shot over par for the tournament. Thatderailed his chance at a career-altering victory.
“Just bummed about 11,” he said. “It was really the only bad swing of the day.”
That swing came after his drive settled in the fairway on the par-4, 153 yards from the pin.
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A shot Knapp, 30, labeled one of the more challenging of the day with the front right pin, but one he’s likely executed hundreds of times.
But this time, Knapp’s approach to the green fronted by water hit the embankment and dropped into the water.
Here is where Bones, a broadcaster for NBC, chimed in.
“I would have send my player back to the fairway to hit his fourth shot,” he said, before Knapp removed his shoe and sock, rolled up his pant leg, stuck his right foot into the water and muck, and took a whack at it.
The problem is the man who just two years ago was a bouncer at The Country Club in Costa Mesa, California, did not put enough muscle into the shot and the result was the same as the approach.
The ball popped out, onto the bank and rolled back in. This time you could see more of the ball. Now invested, he had no choice. His fourth shot, again, hit the bank. But this one stuck.
Jake Knapp never considered taking a penalty and dropping in fairway
Knapp was asked if he ever had the same thoughts of the man who caddied 25 years for Phil Mickelson and just more than two years for Justin Thomas.
“Not really,” he said about taking a penalty and hitting his fourth shot from the fairway. “Just figured I could just kind of blast it out for the most part. It’s just one of those shots you just have to end up hitting a little bit harder than I did.”
And Knapp is not second guessing.
“Even now I don’t take it back,” he said after the round. “It’s just one of those shots you just have to end up hitting a little bit harder than I did.”
A chip to 9-feet and two putts and Knapp’s triple bogey sent him tumbling down the leaderboard. The man who had the solo lead after each of the first three rounds, went from 18-under and tied for first to tied for seventh on one hole.
And the day got worse. Knapp, whose lone win on the PGA Tour was last year in Mexico, closed with seven pars for a 1-over 72, but needed a birdie on the par-5 No. 18 to get into this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. His seven footer burned the edge of the cup leaving him tied for sixth at 15-under, four shots behind champion Joe Highsmith, who won for the first time on the PGA Tour.
The story of the Cognizant Classic for 3 1/2 rounds was all about Jake Knapp. Thursday, he had everyone buzzing by shooting the 15th round of 59 or better on the PGA Tour and coming within a few inches on his final putt of tying Jim Furyk’s all-time low round of 58.
And to do it on the Champion Course, one of the more challenging on the PGA Tour, turned heads everywhere. And it does not matter if the course was playing easier than ever early due to a perfect storm of overseeding and calm conditions.
Jake Knapp enters final round of Cognizant with one-shot lead
Knapp followed that historic round with a 70 and 68 to enter Sunday with a one-shot lead.
“The 59 the first day, those don’t happen very often,” Knapp said. “So obviously that’ll hold a special place in my heart. But that being said, the whole goal at the beginning of the week is always just to put yourself in position going into the weekend, and I was happy I was able to do that.”
The 11th hole concluded a bizarre three-hole stretch for Knapp, who entered ranked No. 99 in the world.
Knapp gave himself a manicure on the course after hitting his second shot on No. 9, taking care of a hang nail after borrowing nail clippers from the Palm Beach Gardens police officer assigned to his group.
Kevin Kisner, NBC’s lead analyst, said he keeps clippers in his bag.
On No. 10, his second shot landed in the grandstands and settled there, by the feet of a couple of spectators. He received a free drop and salvaged a birdie.
Then came No. 11.
Knapp was asked what he will remember about this week years from now.
“That I wish I had that shot back on 11,” he said. “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 except for just one hole.”
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jake Knapp: From a 59 Thursday to a triple-bogey Sunday at the Cognizant Classic
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