A tale of missed chances — that is what the 2025 Cognizant Classic was for Jake Knapp. At the PGA National Members Club, the American golfer opened with a brilliant round of 12 under par to lead the field after day 1. But he failed to carry the form over the remaining three days, struggling to find his rhythm.

Despite that, Knapp remained firmly in contention for a top spot and could have finished as high as T2 if it weren’t for his disappointing triple bogey on the 11 hole in Round 4. Knapp’s opening day exploits powered him to a T6 finish, his best this season. If four years ago, Knapp was told that he would get a T6 finish at a PGA Tour event, that too two years on the Tour, he would have accepted it without any hesitation.

That is because there was a point of time when the golfer was considering quitting the game entirely. Knapp has definitely experienced the highs and lows of professional golf, and that has kind of molded him into the golfer he is today.

The low point of Jake Knapp’s PGA Tour career

Golf.com’s Claire Rogers, in a sit-down chat with Jake Knapp, asked the golfer about the most difficult moment in his career. The 2024 Mexico Open winner did not have to think too much to find an answer. “Definitely, when I hurt my ankle in 2018. That was like three years after being a pro. All my contracts were done at that point so I was a free agent.” Knapp had come into the 2018 Tour hopeful but ended up losing his status after playing terribly. He played some pickup basketball to relax his mind and there he ended up spraining his ankle.

It’s moments like these that force a perspective shift. And Knapp did go through one. However, he still kept fighting and figuring things out on the side before committing to what he wished for – professional golf. Despite the injury and lack of money, Knapp committed hard to golf. He ended up gaining the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour status after winning twice on the Canadian Tour. “You don’t really have a sponsor to help. That was a low point. Because that was definitely a time where I was like, I could just kind of stop now.”

People see the result, not the grind, and Jake Knapp’s life is a perfect example of that. When things were not going well for the 30-year-old, he worked as a bouncer at a nightclub back at his home in Costa Mesa.

Jake Knapp’s life away from the Tour

“They needed a security guy, and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m big enough, but I can stand there and look tough,’” Knapp recalled the experience. He joined the gig after losing his Korn Ferry Tour card in 2022.

With the job, it proved to be a very disciplined and rigorous schedule for Knapp, who made it work thanks to his work ethic and sense of responsibility. It was something he wanted to learn during his time away from the course. “I’d work Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights and special events, which allowed me to practice until five or six on Friday, and then go to the gym and eat dinner and go straight there, work until 2 or 3 a.m., come straight home, go to sleep, wake up at 10, course at 11, practice until 5, do it again.”

“I was thankful I wasn’t living off that job; it helped fund mini-tour stuff and [PGA Tour] Canada that summer. It made me work a little bit harder and not take golf for granted.”  Some lessons are learned the hard way, and Knapp is all the more grateful for it. It’s from this stage of his life that the UCLA grad made his debut at the 2024 Masters Tournament. A journey fraught with teachings and difficulties, but a worthy journey nonetheless.

Knapp has one more year left on the Tour, minimum, thanks to his victory in the Mexico Open at the 2024 PGA Tour, earning him $1.458 million in prize money. A far cry from his days as a bouncer. He has shown flashes of brilliance, a prime example being the recently concluded Cognizant Classic. But now, to take a step further, he needs to bring consistency to his results. Knapp is entering his prime right now. Do you think he can add more titles to his repertoire before the end of the year?