When Jake Knapp texts his grandfather, as he does after every round, he can report that he did it, holding on to win his first PGA Tour title at the Mexico Open at Vidanta at Vallarta, Mexico.
It wasn’t always pretty in the final round on Sunday at Vidanta Vallarta as Knapp closed with an even-par 71 for a two-stroke victory over Sami Valimaki.
Knapp’s grandfather, Gordon Sydney Frederick Bowley, died of cancer last year and Knapp and his cousin both got matching tattoos with the initials GSFB on his left bicep so that it would be visible during his swing. Asked what his grandfather would think of his victory, Knapp said, “He would be pumped. He’d probably say winner, winner, chicken dinner.”
Knapp appeared to put a sleeper hold on the tournament in the third round with birdies on seven of his first nine holes on Saturday en route to shooting 63 and grabbing a four-stroke lead entering the final round.
But Sundays are payday and Knapp, a 29-year-old rookie who played his college golf at UCLA, had never held the lead on the Tour let alone the Korn Ferry Tour, where he graduated from last season. Knapp is a late bloomer, having turned pro in 2016 but mired outside the top thousand in the world as recently as May of 2022 (No. 1476), and was making just his ninth career Tour start and fifth this season.
The final round turned into a two-man race between a pair of rookies and fellow hockey fans seeking their first Tour title. Knapp sports the logo of the Anaheim Ducks on his shirt while Finland’s Sami Valimaki has a cousin, Juuso, who is a defenseman for the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, and when asked to describe his skating skills, claimed, “I think still better than him.”
On Sunday, Knapp struggled off the tee, including hitting his drive into the water at the third, leading to his second bogey in his first three holes. After shooting 28 on the front nine on Saturday, he shot eight strokes higher a day later. When Valimaki, 25 and already a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, drove the seventh green to 6 feet and rolled in the eagle putt, Knapp’s overnight advantage, the largest 54-hole lead of the season, was gone. But Valimaki (69) made two bogeys on the final nine and managed just one birdie while Knapp made a clutch birdie at the par-5 14th and kept his card clean to finish with a 72-hole total of 19-under 265.
“I feel like I have the game to win over here, it just wasn’t this Sunday,” Valimaki said. “I mean, I was four behind, yesterday was Jake’s day and he kept it going on the back nine so I feel like I didn’t lose it today.”
Knapp recounted family Sunday dinners with his grandfather and how he was the person he talked after every single round. Asked what he would be texting him after Saturday’s stellar performance that sent him on his way to victory, Knapp said, “Wish he could see it. It was always like my dream and his dream as well for me to get out here.”
On Sunday, Knapp’s dream became a reality.
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