Jake Knapp followed his opening-round 59 with a far more modest 1-under-par 70, but birdied his final hole to take a one-stroke lead Friday at the Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Knapp heads into the weekend at 13-under 129, holding a slight edge over Frenchman Matthieu Pavon (64). On Thursday, Knapp became the 15th player in PGA Tour history to shoot a round below 60.
“I’ve never had to follow up a 59 at a tournament before,” Knapp quipped Friday. “It’s all new to me.”
Knapp’s second round started on the back nine at PGA National Resort’s Champion course. After starting with a birdie and a bogey, he made consecutive birdies at Nos. 3 and 4. But a water ball off the tee at the par-4 sixth led to a messy double bogey to bring him back to even for the round.
“Today I think the winds were kind of stop-and-go and just kind of misjudged a few things,” Knapp said. “But overall felt like I was still making good passes at it. A couple wayward shots but nothing too concerning.”
He wrapped up by holing a 16 1/2-foot birdie putt at the par-4 ninth, his ball curling into the cup from the left side, to break a tie with Pavon.
Knapp will be in the final group Saturday with the 32-year-old Frenchman, who started his second round eagle-birdie-birdie at Nos. 10-12.
“Yeah, 10th hole was the perfect start, the dream start,” Pavon said. “A nice drive, like low cut, and I found myself with a nice number with a 4-iron, like 230 yards more or less, a little bit downwind off the right, and I hit that 4-iron perfect, a little hold against the wind, and I ended up 20, 25 foot (from the cup). We had a great read with my caddie. We see pretty easily the line, and I just made a super stroke to start with a 3.”
Pavon added five more birdies and two bogeys on his way in.
Doug Ghim shot the best round of the day, an 8-under 63, to join a tie for third at 11 under with Michael Kim (66), Daniel Berger (68) and Sweden’s Jesper Svensson (67).
Rickie Fowler (68) and 49-year-old former Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson (66) were part of a tie at 10 under.
The feel-good story of the day belonged to Luke Clanton, the top-ranked amateur in the world. By following Thursday’s 67 with a 66, Clanton ensured he would make the cut and earn his 20th and final point necessary for an automatic PGA Tour card via the PGA Tour University accelerated pathway.
The Florida native and member of Florida State’s golf team made four birdies in a row on the front nine to erase a bogey at No. 2. There was an emphatic cheer from his loved ones as he made birdie at the par-5 18th to get to 9 under, well above the projected cut line.
“It’s pretty cool to do it here,” Clanton said. “I’ve watched this event growing up a ton, and to be on 18 walking up and seeing all the people there, it’s breathtaking. I’m just excited to kind of get this journey started and go back and win a national championship with the college team first and then get it started.”
He had been stuck on 19 points since making the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in late January.
“I got that question asked about 19 points a ton, and it was kind of nerve-racking, everyone saying to get your tour card, which I love, and the support has been amazing, but to finally get it done is definitely a little bit of ease for sure,” he said.
The cut line wound up at 5 under par, which meant notable names such as Lucas Glover (4 under), Gary Woodland (2 under), Byeong Hun An of South Korea (even par), Mackenzie Hughes of Canada (1 over) and Brendon Todd (11 over) didn’t make the weekend.
–Field Level Media
