Jake Knapp Opens with a 64 in His Scottish Open Debut

Jake Knapp couldn’t have asked for a better start in his first appearance at the Genesis Scottish Open, carding a smooth 64. In this interview, he reflects on the key moments that kick-started his round—including an unexpected long birdie putt on the 4th—and how patience and precision kept him in control throughout the day.

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Well, Jake, many congratulations. 64 is how you started your account here at the Renaissance for the Genesis Scottish Open. Does your scorecard reflect how easy it was out there? Um, I mean, not necessarily. It definitely, uh, you know, there’s some pars that felt like birdies and stuff, but, uh, but no, for the most part, I didn’t have to work too hard. I felt like I had a good, you know, short game was pretty good. I didn’t leave myself in really any terrible areas, so I wasn’t scrambling too much. Just had to, you know, hit a few good chips and have some good pace on long putts. But other than that, had mostly short par putts, which is always good. I know a lot of you guys on the PJ tour enjoy the challenge that Lynx Golf presents, but you don’t get the opportunity that much. But I mean, you seem to be a duck to water around here. Yeah. Yeah. It um you know, I think I think this place a little bit I mean, Lynx golf in general is a little bit more you’re trying to avoid certain areas rather than needing to hit it in others. So I think we kind of have the areas that we don’t want to be in based on where pins are or where the wind is and then from there keep it kind of in our parameters and then just go deal with the next shot whenever it comes. You didn’t have quite the winds today that you’ve had in practice rounds, but there’s still a lot of intricacies out there where the balls can roll out. You must be very happy with a bogey free round. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I didn’t I honestly didn’t hit a great drive on uh guess it would have been 15 and thought maybe it was going to catch one of those bunkers and was fortunate that it kind of skirted past him and I only had 100 yards in. So, that was one I felt kind of fortunate on. But, yeah, I mean the downwind holes you want to make sure you take advantage of and then the end into the wind holes you want to, you know, kind of give yourself good looks at birdie if you can, but if not, try to make stress-free pars. Well, you’re enjoying the Scottish golf courses. Have you enjoyed any of the culture? Tried the foods? Yeah, I played uh I’ve or I’ve sorry I went and played North Barrack on Monday, so that was pretty amazing and then ate at the clubhouse before and then tried to find a few good restaurants in towns and done a good job so far, so I can’t complain. Have you been brave enough to try the hackers? I haven’t. I was told to stay away so I think this week I’ll probably stay away. Well played. Appreciate it. Thank you.