Jake Knapp Goes From Nightclub Bouncer To Augusta, West Coast Swing Finally Ends, And Anthony Kim's Return
This week's edition of Par Talk features a few firsts. We get to talk about a nightclub bouncer turned PGA Tour winner in Jake Knapp plus Anthony Kim still being a real person and playing in a professional golf tournament this week for the first time since 2012.
Thankfully, we also get to close the chapter on this year's West Coast swing on the PGA Tour, which didn't exactly live up to the expectations going into the new year. It's time to head to the East Coast, also known as the best coast.
As always, feel free to reach out to me with your golf ponderings via Twitter @itismarkharris or email me at mark.harris@outkick.com.
Jake Knapp's Grind To The PGA Tour Is Certainly A Unique One
Every single player on the PGA Tour has a story unique to them about their journey to the peak of professional golf, but not many, if any, went down the same path as Jake Knapp did to get to where he is today.
It's not just the fact that Knapp is a 29-year-old rookie on the PGA Tour, his insanely powerful swing that he makes look effortless, his mullet-mustache combo, or the fact that he looks like he can curl a small car that makes him stand out, it's his story.
In late 2021 Knapp lost his status on the Korn Ferry Tour and took up a job as a bouncer at a nightclub. That sort of gig makes sense for a golfer given you have all day to practice and play before clocking into your late-night shift, but you certainly don't hear about elite professional athletes having a side gig that includes tossing drunk people out of a club.
Knapp is just a different dude, and his side gig of about nine months at the club certainly worked for him as he was able to regain status on the Korn Ferry Tour a year ago and put together a strong enough season to earn his PGA Tour card.
It's safe to say he's taking full advantage of the opportunity. He picked up a T-3 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open in January and found the winner's circle at the Mexico Open this Sunday in what was just his ninth-ever start on the PGA Tour.
One for nine isn't too bad.
Knapp's 63 on Saturday, which could have easily been a 61, gave him a four-shot lead heading into the final 18 holes of play in Mexico, and it's a good thing he started the day with that cushion.
For as effortless as he made the game look on Saturday, 24 hours later he looked like a completely different player. His swing was the exact opposite of being dialed as he managed to his just 2 of 13 fairways and nine greens during the final round.
He did just enough to get the job done with an even par round of 71 to hold off Sami Valimaki by two shots. Knapp certainly didn't have his best stuff from tee to green during the final round, but his short game showed some serious teeth as he was able to get up-and-down seven times.
If Vidanta wasn't a ginormous playground for long hitters like Knapp, and had more trouble off the tee and slightly smaller greens, we're probably talking about one of the bigger collapses we've seen on Tour in quite some time, but here we are, the former nightclub bouncer is headed to Augusta National in April to play not only in his first-ever Masters, but his first-ever major championship.
Anthony Kim's LIV Golf Debut Is Appointment Viewing
It's February 2024, and we have an Anthony Kim hype video ahead of him playing a professional golf tournament in Jeddah where the winner of the event will cash in on a $4 million paycheck. What a time to be alive.
For people between the ages of about 25 and 45 years old, Anthony Kim was the white whale LIV Golf needed to move the needle in a major way. While that may seem ridiculous for a guy who hasn't played a professional event in over a decade, for a few years Anthony Kim was that dude.
READ: The Multitude Of Reasons An Anthony Kim Comeback With LIV Golf Makes All The Sense In The World
Now, after Kim essentially went into hiding for 10+ years without anyone knowing if the man still played golf at all, he's back.
The three-time winner on Tour who made Sergio Garcia his child during the 2008 Ryder Cup will be competing against some of the biggest stars in the sport yet again.
Aside from the very real excitement centered around him simply teeing it up, you have to tip your cap to the guy for doing so in the first place given the bevy of reports and rumors about him forfeiting a $10 million insurance policy by returning to the sport.
That decision was probably made easier given the Saudi's abilities to pay him enough money to soften the blow, but he was very clearly living a comfortable life, but this opportunity was too good to pass up, and thankfully for golf fans, he took it.
Florida Golf Has Never Sounded Better
It's hard to imagine a less-enticing start to the 2024 PGA Tour season than what we've witnessed through the first eight events of the year. To make matters worse, three of those eight events were signature events that were supposed to produce elite leaderboards and big-name winners.
Wyndham Clark is the defending U.S. Open champion, so his win at Pebble Beach earlier this month may fit the script, but the event was shortened to just 54 holes, so we had to miss out on a battle between him, Ludvig Aberg, and other chasers in the fourth round.
Hideki Matsuyama owns a green jacket, so he fits the bill too with his win at the Genesis that featured a ridiculous final round of 62.
Outside of those two names, here's a list of the winners we've had in 2024: Chris Kirk, Grayson Murray, Nick Dunlap, Matthieu Pavon, Nick Taylor, and Jake Knapp.
For the true golf sickos out there, the under-the-radar players finding the winner's circle is appealing. You get the cool storylines each week, the life-changing moments, and still very elite level golf, but essentially two straight months of that can get a bit stale.
It's hard to imagine this upcoming swing in Florida, with back-to-back weeks of The Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players coming up, producing more of the same, but then again we've been saying that for a month.
It's not just the fans or people who cover the sport who want to see a bit more drama that includes the stars on Tour, you best believe the Tour itself is hoping the Rory McIlroys, Jordan Spieths, and Scottie Schefflers show up in a major way much sooner rather than later.