Mexican Jake Knapp, a former nightclub bouncer, is hopeful of winning the trophy and $1.458 million at the 2024 Mexican Open after leading at -19 by four strokes at the end of round 3.
The 2024 Mexico Open on the par71 course finished the penultimate round this morning, February 25, Hanoi time. At this time, the competitive situation recorded that Knapp had a big advantage when he reached -19, while his opponent next to him was Sami Valimaki -15 while T3 had three new players -12. Knapp got this result after recording 11 birdies and three bogeys. In the second half of the round, Knapp always led by at least three strokes. With a birdie on hole 18, he reached -19 and increased the gap with Valimaki to four strokes.
Jake Knapp hits the ball on the 16th green during the third round of the Mexican Open at Vidanta Golf Course in Vidanta Vallarta, Mexico on February 24. Photo: AFP
The professional summary of round 3 recorded Knapp as the leader in putting efficiency as well as average driving distance (338.2 yards), hitting 10 out of 13 fairways and reaching the green according to standard in 14 holes.
The top 5 in the final round, from Knapp to T3, have never won a championship on the PGA Tour. When they win the 2024 Mexican Open, one of them will "change their lives" in the top golf arena in the US. That achievement is reflected in tickets to two majors - the Masters in April and the PGA Championship in May, tickets to five special tournaments with a prize fund of 20 million USD left this season and full tickets for the next two seasons.
Knapp, 29, is a rookie on the PGA Tour this season, playing four events for a combined total of $547,000. Thanks to that professional earnings, he’s richer than he was in 2021.
As of fall 2021, he had been playing professional golf for five years but had only reached the second division of the Korn Ferry Tour and had just been relegated. "I couldn't stay afloat and I was short on money, so I temporarily put my clubs aside to find a part-time job," Knapp told pgatour.com more than half a month ago.
He found The Country Club, a restaurant-turned-nightclub in his hometown of Costa Mesa, Orange County, California. Knapp intended to apply for a job as a bartender but ended up joining the security team.
"The income from the nightclub was not enough to live on, but it helped me cover the costs of playing in small-scale professional tournaments and participating in the third-tier PGA Tour organized specifically for Canada," Knapp confided. After nearly nine months as a security guard at the entertainment venue, Knapp quit to return to the tour to earn money.
At the end of 2022, he regained his second-tier card, on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023. Near the end of last year, Knapp was promoted to the PGA Tour with a full card for the 2024 season.
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