Jake Knapp shoots a 59 at the
Cognizant Classic, 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history
[February 28, 2025]
By TIM REYNOLDS
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Jake Knapp knew he was on the verge
of something special early on Thursday, with a run of five straight
birdies to open his round at the Cognizant Classic.
In the end, he joined one of golf's most elite clubs.
Knapp — the 99th-ranked player in the world — joined the PGA Tour's
sub-60 club on Thursday, shooting a bogey-free 59 in the opening
round at PGA National. It was the 15th time that someone has broken
60 in a PGA Tour event.
“It's just one of those days where everything was kind of clicking,”
Knapp said.
Knapp finished one shot off the tour scoring record of 58, done by
Jim Furyk in the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship.
Knapp became the 14th player to shoot a sub-60 round; Furyk is the
only one to do it twice. The feat has become more frequent, with
nine such rounds since 2016.
Knapp had a putt for eagle at the par-5 18th that would have tied
Furyk’s mark of 58 — 18 feet, 8 inches was the measurement given by
the PGA Tour. The putt didn’t have the speed and he tapped in for
birdie.
And yes, he was thinking about 58 — especially after a long birdie
putt at the 15th put him at 11 under for the round.
“I stepped up on the 16 tee and just kind of told my caddie, ‘Let’s
play 2 under in the last three,’” Knapp said. “‘Let’s do what we’re
supposed to do.’”
He had to settle for 59, if a 59 can ever actually be settled for.
“I thought I played well,” said Daniel Berger, who had a bogey-free
round of 8-under 63, highlighted by a par on the par-5 10th — after
his tee shot was lost in a tree and he played a provisional. “But
then someone shot 59.”
Knapp's 12-birdie round on the par-71 course also broke the previous
Cognizant scoring record of 61, first done in 2012 by Brian Harman
and matched in 2021 by Matt Jones. There are three rounds of 62 in
tournament history — Tiger Woods in the final round in 2012 on his
way to a tie for second, Brandon Hagy in the second round in 2021
and eventual winner Chris Kirk in the second round of the 2023
event.
There was barely any wind, which is rare for South Florida, and PGA
National was largely defenseless in the morning session. The closest
there was to any trouble was around the seventh hole, where Billy
Horschel — a Florida Gator from his college days — used a club to
poke at an actual alligator that was catching some sun near the
green and got it to retreat back to its watery home.
Even wildlife didn't deter scoring in Round 1. Berger, Russell
Henley and Sami Valimaki all shot 63, Rickie Fowler was among those
at 64, Jordan Spieth — continuing his comeback after wrist surgery —
shot 65, and Horschel, Zach Johnson and Camilo Villegas were among
those who opened with a 66.
For the day, the average score was 68.62, the lowest ever for a
tournament round at PGA National.
And nobody had an easier time than Knapp, who finished no better
than a tie for 17th in any of his first seven starts of 2025 — and
then played his way into golf history at PGA National, a course that
players have said has been less punitive in recent years. He needed
to make only 98 feet of putts, a tribute to a day of excellent
ball-striking.
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Jake Knapp hits on the 18th hole during the first round of the
Cognizant Classic golf tournament, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, in Palm
Beach Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
“You still have to hit shots. You have to make
putts,” Fowler said. “Yeah, 59 anywhere is hard to do. I don’t care
if you go play from 6,500 yards. You still have to make putts. You
still have to hit it close enough to have those opportunities. With
this place, we’ve seen some low scores, guys get after it when the
conditions are right. But obviously no one has shot 59 before out
here.”
Knapp has one PGA Tour win, that coming at last year’s Mexico Open.
He’s played the Cognizant only once befor, tying for fourth last
year after shooting three rounds of 68 or better and finishing at 13
under.
And this year, so far, he’s even better.
“You’ve got to tip your hat to him,” Horschel said. “He shot a
12-under-par 59 at PGA National, which no one ever thought.”
Horschel and Knapp crossed paths after the round, and Horschel —
offering congratulations — told him he would have wagered “a lot of
money ... like, a lot of money" on nobody ever shooting 59 at PGA
National.
“I feel like I shot 4 over after seeing what you shot,” Horschel
told Knapp as he walked away.
Knapp started Thursday with five straight birdies, that stretch
highlighted by a 60-foot chip-in at the par-4 second hole. The
birdies kept coming in bunches; three in a row on holes 9 through
11, three more coming on holes 13 through 15 — the last of those a
big breaking putt from 31 feet, going across the green before
dropping dead center into the cup.
Mike Stephens, Knapp's caddie, said they were not afraid to talk
about the chances that awaited on the final three holes.
“I think if anything, maybe your playing competitors try to give you
a little distance or whatnot, but he likes to talk,” Stephens said.
“So, we’d kind of go over things on the last couple (holes), to try
to fill the time. Just to keep it the same. ... Just another day.”
Well, not quite. A 59 is not just another day.
“Whether I shot 89 or 59, I'm going to come back out and do my job
tomorrow,” Knapp said.
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