PGA Tour rookie Jake Knapp carded 11 birdies during an eight-under 63 on Saturday to open up a four-shot lead after three rounds of the Mexico Open at Vidanta in Vallarta, Mexico.
Knapp’s 19-under 194 matches the 54-hole record at Vidanta set last year by Tony Finau, who won the event.
Fellow rookie Sami Valimaki of Finland is second after a four-under 67.
Knapp posted birdies on four of the course’s five par-threes, an outcome he envisioned going into the round, he said afterward.
“I kind of circled them this morning after looking at the pin locations and just felt like depending on where the tee was, I felt like they were going to match up for me pretty well and thought they were going to be pretty gettable,” Knapp said. “So wanted to make sure I kept in the back of my head that there was definitely going to be some good opportunities there.”
Knapp had seven birdies on the front nine while shooting a stellar 28. He had four birdies and three bogeys on the back nine of his ninth career PGA Tour start. The 29-year-old Knapp will be looking for his first PGA win on Sunday.
Knapp would be the third player this season to win for the first time, joining Frenchman Matthieu Pavon (Farmers Insurance Open) and Nick Dunlap (American Express, as an amateur), both in January.
Valimaki had six birdies — including three in succession on the front nine — and two bogeys in his 11th PGA start. It was his second straight 67 after an opening-round 64.
“Started really nicely, hit the ball well, especially first nine holes,” Valimaki said. “Then just couple bad decisions off the tee with the irons, two easy bogeys, but in the end, good solid round.”
Canada’s Ben Silverman (63), Sweden’s Henrik Norlander (65) and Chan Kim (66) are tied for third at 201, seven shots off the pace.
Knapp and Valimaki were part of a four-way tie for the second-round lead. The other co-leaders were Englishman Matt Wallace (71 on Saturday) and Mexico’s Alvaro Ortiz (73). Wallace is in a tie for sixth at 202, while Ortiz is tied for 13th at 9-under.
–Field Level Media
