{"id":553227,"date":"2026-03-30T00:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T00:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/553227\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T00:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T00:06:17","slug":"every-shot-matters-jake-knapp-ties-course-record-in-houston-ahead-of-masters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/553227\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Every shot matters’: Jake Knapp ties course record in Houston ahead of Masters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Records are meant to be broken, and Jake Knapp has had a knack for doing just that over his three seasons on the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n

The record holder for lowest-scoring single round at the Cognizant Classic<\/a> (59, 2025) and the Rocket Mortgage Classic <\/a>(61, 2025) added one more to his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 Sunday in Texas: Knapp now is tied for the low round at the Texas Children\u2019s Houston Open<\/a>. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s also tied for the low score at Memorial Park Golf Course after his 8-under 62 during Sunday\u2019s final round. <\/p>\n

The bogey-free effort catapulted the 31-year-old Knapp into tie for sixth, finishing at 13 under for the tournament. He was sitting outside the top 30 at the beginning of the round.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though you\u2019re not going to win the golf tournament, [you know] there\u2019s still somebody\u2019s going to miss out on that top 30 or top 40 [in the FedExCup standings] by a few points,\u201d Knapp told reporters. \u201cEvery week matters, every shot matters. Just tried to do my best to claw back as much as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

March hadn\u2019t been kind to Knapp until Sunday. <\/p>\n

He withdrew before the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational<\/a> at the beginning of the month and missed the cut the following week at The Players Championship<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Prior to those two tournaments though, Knapp was arguably the hottest player on Tour with three T-8 or better finishes at TPC Scottsdale, Pebble Beach and Riviera in February. He also finished T-11 in Hawaii at the start the season and T-5 at Torrey Pines.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cComing into the season I knew last couple years ball-striking wasn\u2019t very good so tried to put that as kind of my No. 1 priority to improve on,\u201d he said Sunday in Texas, where he made four eagles this week. \u201cI\u2019ve been putting well and driving it well, just needed to clean some things up there, so feel like I\u2019ve done a good job of that. It doesn\u2019t feel like I\u2019m playing all that different, just hitting a little bit closer from those midrange spots to give myself more looks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knapp\u2019s good form has lifted him solidly into the top position of the Aon Next 10 putting him on track to play all of the Signature Events this season. And his No. 42 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking<\/a> (which should improve Sunday evening), puts him firmly into the field for the Masters Tournament.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Masters coming up, I know I\u2019ve been hitting it much better and doing everything somewhat right lately,\u201d Knapp said. \u201cYesterday I just kind of just got off to a bad start and some funky things happened. Just sort of is what it is, so I didn\u2019t want to kick myself too much and get down and think that\u2019s how I\u2019m playing right now. I was able to finish well and salvage a bad day, and then today just kind of reset and just knew that I was hitting it well and trusted that. Just trying to improve week in and week out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jake Knapp records his fourth eagle of the week during the final round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open, becoming the ninth player on TOUR to have four eagles in a 72-hole event multiple times on record.<\/p>\n

Knapp’s other 72-hole event with four eagles:
2026 AT&T Pebble Beach\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Houston, we have a (scoring) problem<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the second time this week the tournament and course record was tied. Nicolai H\u00f8jgaard fired a 62 during the second round on Friday. His 63 the following day set a record for lowest-scoring in back-to-back rounds Houston has ever seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my strengths would be length off the tee,\u201d H\u00f8jgaard said after the round on Friday. \u201cIf you get the ball in play and you hit it pretty far, you can take advantage of the par 5s, and a hole like 17 you can get a little wedge in. Overall I felt like I took advantage of that today, and that\u2019s the goal for the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old Dane was a stroke off the lead to start Sunday\u2019s final round but was undone by bogeys on a pair of par-4s \u2014 both at the start of the round on hole No. 1, and then again at the start of his back nine (on hole No. 10). <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how much of this week\u2019s $9.9 million purse was paid out to Gary Woodland after his victory at Memorial Park Golf Course on Sunday.<\/p>\n

He also double bogeyed the par-3 seventh and finished solo second, five back of winner Gary Woodland.<\/p>\n

The 21 under Woodland finished with set the tournament scoring record. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe play an individual sport out here, but I wasn\u2019t alone today,\u201d said an emotional Woodland after his fifth win on Tour. \u201cI got a lot of people behind me, my team, my family and this golf world. Anybody that\u2019s struggling with something, I hope they see me and don\u2019t give up, just keep fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like H\u00f8jgaard and Knapp, Woodland owns a share of the 18-hole scoring record at the Houston Open. On Sunday at Memorial Park last year, he fired a 62 to finish T-2.<\/p>\n

And just like 2026, the scoring was low for more than one player: Scottie Scheffler tied the course record during the second round with a 62 of his own before eventually finishing T-2 with Woodland.<\/p>\n

Woodland\u2019s final-round 62 wasn\u2019t even the only one posted that day. Sami Valimaki also tied the Houston Open record with a 62 to finish solo fourth.<\/p>\n