Jake Knapp shoots 59, sets course record in opening round at 2025 Cognizant Classic
Cameron Jourdan- Jake Knapp shot a record-breaking round of 59 at the 2025 Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
- This accomplishment marks Knapp as the 15th player in PGA Tour history to break 60.
- Knapp's round included a remarkable start with five consecutive birdies.
Jake Knapp made a bit of history Thursday morning at PGA National.
The 30-year-old shot 12-under 59 during the first round of the 2025 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, setting a course record at the Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and becoming the 14th player to break 60 on the PGA Tour. The last to do so was Hayden Springer at the 2024 John Deere Classic.
The previous course record at PGA National was 61, which Brian Harman shot in 2012 and Matt Jones matched in 2021.
Knapp's day started as good as you can hope, making five straight birdies to begin. He added a birdie on the par-5 ninth, turning in 29. He then birdied Nos. 10-11 and added three more at Nos. 13-15.
He stood on the 18th tee needing a par for 60 and birdie for 59.
"I didn't really think about it, to be honest with you," he said after his round. "I think you start thinking about it too much, you're just going to add pressure to something that's very unnecessary. At the same time, if it was Sunday and the tournament was coming down to the line, it might be different, but at the same time it's Thursday morning and I'm doing my best to just put myself in position going into the weekend."
He blasted his tee shot 335 yards down the middle of the fairway. With 200 yards remaining to a front-left pin location, Knapp hit a brilliant approach to 18 feet, 8 inches. His eagle putt missed a bit low, but he tapped in for 59 and etched his name in the PGA Tour record book.
"Whether I shoot 89 or 59 I'm going to come back out and do my job tomorrow," Knapp said about managing his emotions. "I feel like over the last couple weeks I've started to get into a better head space of just keep trusting the stuff I've been working on and that it's going to keep getting better, and come out tomorrow and just try to keep doing it."
Only Jim Furyk has shot 58 on the PGA Tour, coming at the 2016 Travelers Championship.
Last year, Knapp shot 13 under at PGA National after 72 holes, which was good for T-4. The score Knapp shot Thursday is tied with or beat the winning score in 17 of the past 24 editions of the Cognizant/Honda Classics.
Knapp leads Daniel Berger, Russell Henley and Sami Valimaki by four shots. Those three each shot 63s. Rickie Fowler is in a group of six golfers tied for fifth at 7 under. Jordan Spieth is in a group of five golfers tied for 11th at 6 under, six shots back of Knapp.