VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) — PGA Tour rookie Jake Knapp lost a four-shot lead in seven holes and then held it together with a remarkable short game Sunday, closing with an even-par 71 to win the Mexico Open at Vidanta and earn a trip to the Masters.
Knapp said he still sends a text after each round to his grandfather, who died last year, and this message might require a lot of detail.
He didn’t hit a fairway until the eighth hole and found only two the entire round. He never lost the lead, but twice allowed Sami Valimaki of Finland to catch him. They were tied with six holes to play until Knapp took over, getting up-and-down on four of the next five holes, one of them for birdie.
“I woke up in the middle of the night and I could feel my heart racing,” he said. “I was more excited to get things going. I wasn’t worried about performing — maybe I should have been.”
Tee-to-green, Knapp had his worst performance. But he spent extra time Saturday night on his short game, and it won the day for him.
“We talked about it last night … if the ball-striking is off, we’re going to have to trust our hands. And we did that, grinding out some pretty tough pars,” he said.
It wasn’t easy until the end.
Another big par save on the par-3 17th gave Knapp a two-shot lead going to the par-5 closing hole at Vallarta Vidanta. Valimaki, needing eagle to have a chance, hit his drive down the right side, off a cart path and it nestled next to a boundary fence. He had to take a penalty drop, effectively ending his chances.
Valimaki made par for a 69 to finish runner-up, still a big boost to his rookie season. Valimaki was among the leading 10 players from the European tour to earn PGA Tour cards this year.
“Maybe just a couple more putts drop in,” Valimaki said. “I feel like I have the game to win over here. It just wasn’t this Sunday.”
Knapp, who finished at 19-under 265, won in his fifth start of his rookie season. Along with winning $1,458,000 and…
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