Another day, another course record at the Rocket Classic as Jake Knapp fires 61

Tony Paul, The Detroit News on Jun 27, 2025

Published in Golf

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DETROIT — After a sluggish first round, it looked like a wrap for Jake Knapp at the Rocket Classic.

But at Detroit Golf Club, when the scoring conditions have been pristine so far this week, anything's possible, and Knapp on Friday did what's never been done before. Knapp shot a course-record 61, 11-under par, to move into contention halfway through the PGA Tour's stop in Detroit.

The previous course record was set just a day earlier, by both Aldrich Potgieter and Kevin Roy, who shot 62s. Earlier Thursday, Min Woo Lee shot 63 to tie what had been the course record, until the afternoon.

Knapp was in a tie for 130th place in the 156-player field after limping to an even-par 72 in the first round, then came out scorching in Round 2.

He admitted to being upset after his opening round, but also kept things in perspective.

"I think you look at the end of the tournament, the winner isn't going to shoot 40 under," Knapp said. "You kind of obviously have to get yourself back in position the next day when you shoot even par the first day.

"For the most part, my thought was just to like get to 6, maybe 7 under and get ourselves onto the weekend, and if you do that the next three days, that's going to put you in a good spot on Sunday. That was kind of the mindset.

"But obviously, (I) was starting to make some putts, and just trying to go as low as I could."

Teeing off early Friday morning, Knapp shot a front-nine 31, highlighted by an eagle at the par-5 17th, when he made a bending 35-foot putt. He nearly made a second eagle at the par-5 seventh, but his 10-footer lipped out and he tapped in for a birdie to get to 10 under.

Knapp then got it to 11 under at the par-4 eighth, when he hit his 61-yard approach from the rough to 18 inches, then saved the new course record by getting up and down from the greenside rough on the par-3 ninth.

Knapp, 31, isn't a stranger to going low on the golf course. Earlier this year, he shot the magic number in golf, 59, in the first round of the Cognizant Classic — en route to a sixth-place finish, his best of the season in individual competition.

For a fleeting moment Friday, Knapp found himself thinking about 59 again, thanks to better approach shoots in the game. His average proximity to the hole on approaches shots was more than 10 feet close than in Thursday's round.

"I'm definitely not afraid of shooting a low number," Knapp said. "I think when you're playing well, just try to stay out of my own way and just kind of keep doing what I'm doing and making more birdies."

He made nine birdies and an eagle Friday, and by the end of his round, Knapp had moved into the top 10 on the leaderboard, a jump of more than 120 spots from when he finished his round Thursday.

He's searching for his second PGA Tour win, after winning the Mexico Open in 2024.

The first-round leaders, Potgieter and Roy, cooled off Friday. Potgieter shot 2-under 70 and was at 12 under, still tied for the lead when he finished his second round. Roy shot 1-under 71, and was at 11 under.

Chris Kirk, who often has been in contention at the Rocket over the years, shot a 7-under 65 to get to 14 under, taking the lead at the halfway point of Friday's second round.

"I just tried to play a little bit more aggressive," said Knapp, who finished in a tie for 31st at the Rocket Classic a year ago. "Every pin was a green light.

"So (I) just tried to hit it at everything."