PGA Tour rookie Jake Knapp is now a PGA Tour winner, winning the Mexico Open on Sunday after shooting 19 under this week to beat fellow rookie Sami Valimaki by two shots.
Knapp started the round with a commanding four-shot lead, but let it slip away when his driver – the foundation of his first three laps – betrayed him. Knapp hit two fairways in 18 holes on Sunday and is the first PGA Tour player since 1983 to hit two or fewer fairways in his final round and win. Knapp hit 33 of 39 fairways from Thursday to Saturday.
Still, he secured the win after hitting his drive on 18 into a bunker on the left fairway. Valimaki, needing an eagle to force a place in the playoffs, went all out and missed his target – his monster attack hit the cart path on the right and landed under a fence. Valimaki immediately began to question how big his lead was over the trio in third place. A few moments later, Knapp had tap-in par and raised his arms in triumph.
“I’m just trying to give it a try,” Knapp told NBC about his final lap.
Knapp, 29, is just that – a professional golf grinder. The talent was always there — he shot a 58 on his home course in high school and then a 61 in US Open qualifying and eventually enrolled at UCLA — but when he turned pro in 2016, he struggled to find his footing grasp.
Three years ago he had no tour status and was working as a security guard in a nightclub. But he used his conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour to finish 13th in the season standings in 2023 and secure his PGA Tour card for that season.
Last month he placed third at the Farmers Insurance Open and was T28 at the WM Phoenix Open. He then followed up his opening-round 67 at Vidanta with a 64 on Friday and a 63 on Saturday to enter the final round four shots ahead of Valimaki. Only three players were within seven shots of the lead.
However, Knapp, ranked No. 125 in the world according to DataGolf.com, stumbled out of the gate with bogeys on Nos. 1 and 3 and quickly found himself in a tie with Valimaki, who had a birdie and an eagle on the front nine.
Knapp finally calmed himself down by giving his playing partner a stroke when he parred No. 13 and Valimaki made bogey, then gave himself another stroke when he birdied the par-5 14th and Valimaki tied for par was satisfied.
Knapp takes home $1.458 million for the win. He will compete in the Masters and PGA Championship next month, as well as the Players Championship. Additionally, he is now fully exempt during the 2026 PGA Tour season and will compete in all signature events for the remainder of this year.
(Photo by Jake Knapp: Hector Vivas / Getty Images)