Jake Knapp fired an eight-under-par 63 on Saturday to grab the lead after a record-setting third round at the Mexico Open.
The 29-year-old American, making only his ninth PGA Tour start, birdied seven of the first nine holes for a course-record seven-under 28 on the front side at Vidanta in Puerto Vallarta.
A birdie-birdie finish gave Knapp 11 birdies against three bogeys on the day to match the 54-hole tournament scoring record of 19-under 194 set last year by winner Tony Finau.
That was good enough for a four-stroke lead over Finland’s Sami Valimaki, another PGA Tour rookie in only his 11th start on the circuit, with Canada’s Ben Silverman, Sweden’s Henrik Norlander and American Chan Kim sharing third on 201, seven strokes adrift.
South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen shared sixth position after a round of 70 that included five birdies and four bogeys.
World No 101 Knapp, who shared the lead on 11 under when the day began, birdied six of the first seven holes, reeling off four in a row from the 4th, and birdied the 9th to seize command, telling himself to stay focused as the birdies fell.
“Just keep it going, stick to the process, do what we’ve been doing,” Knapp said. “Kept saying I’ve been hitting the ball well, just keep giving myself opportunities and get some putts to drop and was able to do that.”
Knapp, who produced his best PGA Tour finish with a share of third earlier this month at Riviera, has won three times on a Canadian developmental Tour and will rely on years of past efforts to cope with Sunday pressure in the biggest round of his career.
“I’ve been playing professional golf for a while and had plenty of good stuff and bad stuff,” he said.
“What happened at Riviera, I have that to lean back on, and some experiences on the Korn Ferry and Canadian Tours and all that, so that will all be a part.”
Knapp opened with back-to-back birdies, hitting his approach at the 1st from the left rough to just inside three feet of the hole, then blasting his approach to four feet at the 2nd.
Knapp sank a birdie putt at the 4th from just inside 17 feet, followed with a 24-foot birdie putt at the par-three 5th, another from just outside five feet at the par-five 6th and made a five-foot birdie putt at the par-four 7th after driving onto the green.
At the par-three 9th, Knapp landed his tee shot four feet from the hole and tapped in to set the nine-hole tournament record and lead by three at the turn.
At the 10th, Knapp went way left off the tee, needed a penalty drop and sank a putt from just inside 10 feet to salvage bogey.
Knapp responded with an 11-foot birdie putts at the par-three 11th and par-five 12th.
Knapp missed a par putt from just inside nine feet and made bogey at the par-5 14th, then missed the green with his approach at the par-4 16th and missed a 14-foot par putt for another bogey.
Again Knapp answered, sinking a 14-foot birdie putt at the par-three 17th and two-putting from 35 feet for a birdie at the par-five 18th to close his spectacular round.
Valimaki, a two-time DP World Tour winner, closed with a birdie to shoot 67 to join Knapp in Sunday’s final group.
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Fernando de Dios/Getty Images
