Jake Knapp wins maiden PGA Tour title at Mexico Open
Jake Knapp seals emotional maiden victory on the PGA Tour in Mexico.
Jake Knapp captured his maiden PGA Tour title with victory at the Mexico Open.
Knapp, 29, held a commanding four-stroke lead heading into the final round but he was briefly caught on the 12th hole by his playing partner Sami Valimaki.
But the new American PGA Tour star held his nerve on the closing holes to card a round of 71 and see out a hard-fought two-stroke victory over 19-under par.
Knapp was greeted on the 18th green by his girlfriend McKenna, who flew in on Saturday night to see her man see out his first win on the PGA Tour.
The victory sees Knapp earn the biggest pay cheque of his career thus far with $1.458m.
Knapp also secures his PGA Tour card for the next two seasons and earns eligibility into all of the Signature Events this season.
He will move from 101st in the Official World Golf Rankings to just outside the top 50 when the rankings are updated on Monday.
Knapp impressively did not miss a single putt from inside of five feet all week.
He also led the field in driving distance (322 yards).
Knapp becomes the first player to win a PGA Tour event having found just two fairways in the final round.
"I didn't have my best stuff out there today, knew was going to be tough, but after as bad as I played on the first three holes, I held in there and was super pumped to how I grinded it out," said Knapp.
On dedicating the victory to his late grandfather, Knapp said: "He would probably say 'winner, winner, chicken dinner'. Papa, thank you."
Knapp started with two bogeys in the final round at 1 and 3 but responded well with birdies at 7 and 14 to eventually settle his nerves.
Valimaki had pulled level with a birdie at the par-5 12th but quickly fell behind again with a bogey at the par-3 13th.
The lead then fell to two shots when Valimaki failed to get up and down for birdie on the 14th.
Valimaki could not find the required birdies on the closing holes and Knapp ran out a deserved first victory on the PGA Tour.
The Finn handed the tournament to Knapp on a plate when driving into the fence down the right of the par-5 18th.
Stephan Jaeger, CT Pan and Justin Lower finished in a tie for third on 14-under par.
Scotland's Robert MacIntyre was left to rue a disappointing finish but he did at least secure his best finish on the PGA Tour this season.
MacIntyre had missed three straight cuts heading to Vidanta but he put that to rest with a T6 on 13-under par.
Mexico Open Final Leaderboard
-19 J Knapp
-17 S Valimaki
-14 S Jaeger, CT Pan, J Lower
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