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The PGA Tour is at the Detroit Golf Club this week for the Rocket Classic, formerly the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The course saw rain earlier in the week, making pin locations look even more attractive to the world's best golfers. That was clearly the case on Friday as PXG's Jake Knapp went bonkers.
Knapp fired off an 11-under 61 to set a new 18-hole scoring record, per the PGA Tour Communications department. That comes on the heels of Kevin Roy and Aldrich Potgieter setting the course record at 10-under during Thursday's opening round.
Entering the week, the record sat at 9-under 63, held by 10 golfers.
The course setup likely comes as a relief to PGA Tour pros. Over the last month or so, the stretch of golf courses played at has been brutal, with the climax of that coming at Oakmont, where JJ Spaun emerged victorious at the U.S. Open. He was the only player in the field to finish under par.
Knapp's play moved him up more than 120 places on the leaderboard. He carded an even par 72 on Thursday, which left him sitting 130th and well below the cut line.
When he walked off the course Friday, he was tied for fifth. But with much of the field still playing, he has since dropped to sixth. Nevertheless, he put himself in contention in what has been a solid year for the PGX pro.
“I'm definitely not afraid of shooting a low number,” Knapp said after his round.
“I feel like when I start making birdies, I want to make more. I was even kind of thinking about 59 when I stuck it close on my third to last for eagle and figured I could maybe eagle that and birdie the last two.”
This was not the first time Jake Knapp set a PGA Tour course record this season. Earlier this year, he carded a 59 at the Cognizant Classic. That was just the 15th sub-60 round on the PGA Tour in its history. He would ultimately finish tied for sixth that week.
After a breakout 2024 season, Knapp has taken a slight step back this year.
He only has two top 10 finishes, the aforementioned Cognizant and Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which is a team event. But he remains positive that he is headed in the right direction.
“I felt like I've been trending in the right direction, starting to hit the ball better and do the right things.”
His second career win this week would go a long ways toward furthering that sentiment.
