Jake Knapp didn’t have his best game. However, after three days of birdie binges, an even-par finish was sufficient to do the job.
Knapp shot a final-round 71, defeated Finland’s Sami Valimaki by two shots, and won the Mexico Open at Vidanta, his first PGA Tour win, in Vallarta, Mexico.
The tour rookie started the day with a four-shot advantage over Valimaki and joined him in the last Sunday pairing at Vidanta Vallarta. After a difficult start in which he temporarily lost the lead, Knapp rallied down the stretch to finish at 19-under 265 for the week.
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Knapp, 29, took time off from golf in 2021 and 2022 to save money while working as a bouncer at a restaurant/bar in his hometown of Costa Mesa, California. After returning to the Korn Ferry Tour, he secured his PGA Tour card for the first time last autumn and made an immediate impact with a T3 performance at the Farmers Insurance Open in January.
Knapp is now totally exempt on tour through the 2026 season, having qualified for The Players Championship, the Masters, the PGA Championship, and the five remaining flagship tournaments in 2024.