Despite the bad day, Jake Knapp made good predictions and won the Mexico Openhis first PGA Tour title, with two two shots ahead (-19) about finnish Sami Valimaki (-17).
The German Stephan Jaeger (65 hits on Sunday), the Taiwanese CT Pan (65) and the American Justin Lower (68) tied for third place with 14-under par (270 total strokes).
Patrick Rodgers He scored 67 strokes yesterday and tied with the Scotsman Robert MacIntyre (69) in sixth place, with 13 under par.
Tony Finauthe highest-ranked player and reigning tournament champion, finished the week 69-67-69-68 (273) and tied for 13th place at 11 under par.
The Spanish Jorge Campillowho arrived on the final day with options to enter the Top-10 of the tournament, had to settle for a Top-20 (finished 19th, tied with Aaron Rai, Greyson Sigg, Martin Trainer and Keith Mitchell) after signing off on a Sunday with 70 strokes (-1), for a 274 total (67-70-67-70), -10 over par.
But back to the winner, Knapp, of 29 years old and new to the PGA Tourthe day started with a four-shot lead in Valimaki and played with him in Sunday’s final match at Vidanta Vallarta.
After a shaky start in which Knapp briefly lost the lead, he steadied himself until complete the day with 71 strokes, for a total of 265 for the week, 19 under par.
“I didn’t play my best golf today, that’s for sure,” Knapp said after his victory. “I knew it was going to be stressful, I knew it was going to be tough. I told (his caddy), and I said, ‘After the first three holes, that’s the worst we’ve ever played and we still have a two-stroke lead. .’ ‘”.
On Sunday, Knapp did bogey on numbers 1 and 3, then watched Valimaki make a birdie on the fourth hole. On the par 4 seventh, the Valimaki’s drive went about two meters from the hole, and he took the lead, at 18 under par.
But where Knapp made the first of his two birdies on Sunday, even though his tee shot landed in a bunker. After matching Valimaki at 18 under, Knapp added a birdie at the par-5 14th despite a wayward drive.
In fact, the Californian found just 2 of 13 fairways in regulation Sunday after missing a combined six in the first three rounds, when he shot 67-64-63 with 23 birdies.
“It would have been nice to hit the driver better and hit it a little bit, but I’m really excited about how I played down the stretch,” Knapp said Sunday.
Knapp made three straight pars before hitting his tee shot on the par-5 18th into a bunker. But Valimaki, two strokes behind, He was out of bounds and had to concede an unplayable lie and a penalty stroke.
Knapp calmly stepped out of the bunker and finished with par. Valimaki also lHe made par to close the final round of 69 and 267, 17 under par, over four days in Mexico.
“I feel like I have the game to win here, it just wasn’t on Sunday,” Valimaki said. “I mean, I was behind four, yesterday was Jake’s day and he kept it behind nine, so I don’t feel like I lost him today.”
Knapp, 29, extended golf in 2021 and 2022saving money while working as a bouncer at a restaurant in his hometown of Costa Mesa, California.
After returning to the Korn Ferry Tour, he earned his PGA Tour card for the first time last fall and quickly made some noise with a T3 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open in January.
Knapp is now off the tour entirely until the 2026 season and has made his way through the Players Championship, the Masters, the PGA Championship and the five remaining 2024 flagship events.
Source: La Verdad

I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.