Jake Knapp's journey from nightclub bouncer to TOUR winner

Editor's note: This article originally ran Feb. 6 after Jake Knapp finished T3 at the Farmers Insurance Open. He went on to win his maiden PGA TOUR victory at the Mexico Open at Vidanta.

Rookie Jake Knapp, who lives just a stone’s throw from TPC Scottsdale, enters this week’s WM Phoenix Open with a chance at playing his way into The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, which is just 50 miles from his boyhood home in Costa Mesa, California.

A Korn Ferry Tour graduate, Knapp, 29, finished T3 at the Farmers Insurance Open to earn a spot at the WM Phoenix Open and climb to No. 6 on the Aon Swing 5. The top five after this week earn spots at The Genesis, and there couldn’t be a more colorful late addition to the field.

Whether it’s learning a Chinese parable from a teaching pro, meeting a mental coach at a wedding, or being tasked with managing a nightclub’s security on New Year’s Eve, Knapp has led an eventful life. Here are 10 stories about Knapp – from the man himself.

1. I shot 58 on my home course with our head pro’s putter. I grew up across the street from Costa Mesa Country Club. It’s two 18s; one’s normal (Los Lagos), and the shorter 18 (Mesa Linda), where I shot 58, is a par 70. I started off like bogey-birdie-birdie-bogey, and shot 12 under after that. I think I was a high school junior. That was pretty nuts; I’ll never forget it.

I liked the putter, the original TaylorMade Itsy Bitsy Spider. There weren’t a lot of people around; it was twilight when we finished, and we go to our car and these guys next to us could tell we were excited about something. They asked, “Did you have fun out there today?” and we’re like, “We had a lot of fun.” One of my buddies is like, “He shot 58,” and I’m pretty sure those people thought it was for nine holes or something, and one of them is like, “Good for you, kid, that’s awesome.” I was thinking, Yeah I don’t think he knows, but that’s alright.

2. I shot 61 in a U.S. Open local qualifier in high school. It was the first tee time off, and one of my best friends Carter Norris was supposed to caddie for me; pick you up at 5 a.m., get breakfast burritos and go straight to the course. So, I’m at his house, his bedroom was the front-right window, pull up to the house, no lights on, no nothing. I’m like, man, that’s not good.

I knock on his window a few times, like, I guess I’m carrying my own bag. So I go to the range, I’m a little flustered, hitting it terrible. Right as I’m getting to the 10th tee, his car pulls into the parking lot. I hit my tee shot, take the bag … (when he catches up) we’re wearing the same-colored pants, exact same shirt. This just looks fantastic, why not? I ended up playing super well. Everything was easy. I didn’t make it through the Final Qualifying, though.

3. I got Patrick Cantlay to laugh. Going into my junior year of high school, Patrick was at UCLA and Ben Itterman was at Oregon, and they were chirping me, each talking up his school. Pat is hard not to listen to, because he’s pretty much one of the top amateurs in the world at that point. When he was going through his back recovery, he would come play with us. I was always amazed by him. I used to joke with him that I remember the times where I got him to laugh, because he’s not the kind of person that’s just going to laugh to make you feel good. He’s only going to laugh if he finds it funny. So when I can get a laugh out of him, I give him a hard time. “See, that one was a good one. I’ll have to remember that.”

4. I had always liked UCLA. I was leaning toward UCLA, knew a couple other guys there; always had a soft spot for it. In high school I did my senior project on Travis Johnson, who played there and was the captain just before the Kevin Chappell era, because he started Travis Mathew clothing, and I looked up to him. It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to go there. And I knew I wanted to go somewhere that I could practice year-round.

5. I’m a lifelong Anaheim Ducks fan. Tim Ryan was the president of the Ducks and CEO of the Honda Center, and he was a member at my home course (Mesa Verde Country Club). I went out to play one afternoon, nine holes, just me, maybe one other, and he asked if he could join. He had some Ducks gear on and a Ducks golf bag. I didn’t think much of it. We play nine, have a good time, talk about the team; I was going to the game that night with my parents and my brother, and he goes, “You’re going to the game tonight, right?” I say, “Yeah.” He says, “Let me know if there’s anything you need,” and hands me his card. President and CEO. I was like, Holy cow, good thing I was on my best behavior. It was right when I turned pro, and we always joked about potentially doing something with the bag or logo, and when I got on the Korn Ferry Tour, we talked about it seriously and were able to do a deal.

6. The Chinese Bamboo Tree parable changed my outlook. I learned about it from Tom Sargent, the old pro at Mesa Verde. I was on the range, and said I hadn’t lived up to my potential. He told me to read about it, so I did. The bamboo tree lays dormant and lays dormant and lays dormant, and all of a sudden, it grows 30 feet in a few weeks. You keep working and good things are eventually going to happen. I was like, “That’s phenomenal. I like that a lot.” He used to tell me, “Whoever digs the most dirt wins – you’ve just got to get it out of the dirt, and it will pay off.” At that point, I kind of stopped worrying about needing to be at a certain point at a certain time.

7. My mom does wedding and event planning, and at this one wedding, my dad and I went and did security. We were helping direct people and everything else. I noticed this guy and he looked familiar; he had a license plate and a name on it. I searched it, saw he was a really famous mental coach, and I was like, I’m just going to try to talk to this guy. We talked, and he was a nice guy, nice enough to talk to me on the phone for a bit.

I was 27, and I told him, “I don’t know if I want to do this when I’m 30; grinding on mini tours wears on you.” He said OK, and I committed to … if I was still at that point when I was 30, then that would be decision time. Once I told myself that I had three years to work through these different steps, it was a big relief. Three years is so much time. That freed me up to get back to it and not worry about the short term and put my mind back on things that are most important.

8. I worked as a nightclub bouncer. After losing status and missing at Q-School in 2021, out of funds, I needed to be away from golf. I needed some responsibility and some perspective on things. I wasn’t aware that (The Country Club, a restaurant in Costa Mesa) turned into a nightclub; I went there to be a barback. 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.” I was there for eight months or so; it was crazier than I thought … Halloween was my second weekend, and then it’s New Year’s Eve and the holidays, so people are going nuts. Our head of security was a drummer in a band, and he was like, “I have a gig on New Year’s Eve. Are you OK running everything?” I was only three months in and had no idea what I was doing, but it ended up working out; try not to let people hurt other people inside the bar, and if they want to, push them into the parking lot.

I’d work Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights and special events, which allowed me to practice until 5 or 6 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 Canada that summer. It made me work a little bit harder and not take golf for granted.

9. I had only four guaranteed starts last year – and skipped the first one. Conditional Korn Ferry Tour status meant just four guaranteed starts to start last season, but I skipped the first one to be home with my brother and his wife for the birth of their first baby boy. That left me three starts, but I trusted my game. I remember after Colombia (the season’s fourth event), walking with my caddie, we get to take a deep breath and play with house money. We’re into events, we don’t have to worry about cuts, and can give ourselves chances to win. (Note: Knapp finished No. 13 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List to earn his first PGA TOUR card.)

10. My Instagram handle is knapptime_ltd, which stands for “living the dream.” My brother Ryan and I started it when we were kids, early middle schoolish or high school. “LTD” was on everything. We had shirts made; I had a hat for it. Stickers were always on the back of our car. Our mom’s company does magnets, so I had her make a billion magnets, and we just planted them all over our high school. LTD has always been with me and my brother … “living the dream” has always been the motto. We were really appreciative of what we get to do, high school and college and when he started playing professionally. Man, we just get to walk over to the course and play golf every day – how good is that? We really are living the dream.