The PGA Tour is playing another forgettable event this weekend with the exception that it’s at the notoriously difficult PGA National Champion course. It played host to the 1983 Ryder Cup, 1987 PGA Championship and the Cognizant Classic since 2007. Until yesterday, the 1st round scoring average was routinely 2-3 shots over par because (again) it’s a hard course and people have a hard time playing it. That’s the important context because yesterday Jake Knapp went 12-under with a 59.
Obviously that’s remarkable, but the point of this blog is that Jake Knapp is the smoothest swing on the PGA Tour.
ARGUABLY the closest level of Smooth we’ve seen since Freddie Couples and I’m not joking. So while the 59 is nice and the Cognizant Classic blows, blah blah blah and all the bullshit in between… I really just want to use this opportunity to impress upon you how fuckin silky this man really is
And for those of you that think I’m being aggressive with the Freddie Couples comparison, you’ll see here in slow motion that the trail arm rotation is nearly identical, which would explain them being such long hitters off the tee.
Or something like that. Honestly I should be the last guy giving golf lessons after rewatching some tape from this week’s range session. I’m stiff as a board and not in the way I typically prefer ifyouknowhatimean.
Jake Knapp on the otherhand is fluid and dynamic and rapidly climbing my board of favorite golfers.
And before you think that’s some meaningless designation – I beg you to consider TV coverage. They really only show a couple groups each weekend, and you’re lucky to get live footage of your favorite guys unless they’re at the top of the board. So while I historically like Charley Hoffman, you don’t get a ton of Hoffman content. You get Justin Thomas and Tony Finau and the likes. So when I say that Jake Knapp is climbing my board of favorite golfers, that means more than I like his social media clips. I actually want to see this swing on the weekends and I want to watch him down the stretch because I like his game that much.
It’s kinda like NASCAR but I don’t know shit about NASCAR so let’s pivot and agree that it’s equally impressive to remember every single shot, club, distance.
Or maybe it’s not that difficult when you’re only making 35-40 golf swings. Maybe it’s easier to remember when you’re not re-teeing every other hole.
Personally I wouldn’t know because I’ve never shot a 59. I can only imagine and I imagine it feels pretty fucking good to go -12 opening round of a PGA Tour event.