Blake Davis
A PGA Tour rookie seeks weekend victory No. 2 in the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Jake Knapp takes a one-stroke lead over Matt Wallace and Troy Merritt in the second half of this tournament at 14 under after consecutive rounds of 7 under 64. The Mexican Open winner made 15 birdies against just one drop shot through his first 36 holes.
Although he is a rookie in name, Knapp should feel comfortable in the spotlight over the next two days. He did well in his decisive victory at Vidanta Vallarta in late February and should put that experience to good use in contention.
“Yeah, I feel comfortable,” Knapp said. “You know, I’ve been there before. Even Farmers was in the lead and Cognizant was in the lead. On courses like this, where the scores are going to be low, you don’t worry too much about what the other guys are doing. You try to make a a lot of birdies. You know, it’s a course that suits me well, so if I keep doing the things I’m doing, I’ll be in a good position.”
Despite his smooth swing and effortless speed, Knapp has struggled since the Cognizant Classic, where he finished T4 the week after his win. He has failed to achieve a top-40 finish in his last five tournaments, but that can be attributed to a series of firsts.
Entering the year with no major championship exemptions and no status in exclusive events, Knapp changed all that in February. Since then, he’s spent a busy two months playing in the PGA Tour’s premier event, some exclusive events and even making the cut in his Masters debut.
“I think I got a little tired,” Knapp said. “I think mentally there was a lot going on, and I wouldn’t necessarily say it was life changing, it just got busier and the days got longer. same energy throughout the day for some of those weeks, which was kind of annoying. I decided to take last week off and do a good reset at home and work on some things I’ve been struggling with and I feel like it’s working. this week so far.”
While a victory on Sunday wouldn’t be the first time, it would make Knapp the first rookie since Xander Schauffele in 2017 to win multiple times on the PGA Tour. He would also join Scottie Scheffler as the only other players to win more than once this season, which is good company for a rookie in the year 2024.
The leader
1. Jake Knapp (-14)
While Knapp’s game has dropped off a bit over the past two months, his iron play hasn’t changed. The approach play is getting him this far; he has gained north of five strokes with the irons in two rounds and shows no signs of slowing down. Combined with his length with the big stick, Knapp’s long game will put ample pressure on his pursuers to keep attacking birdies at what will be a wet and accessible TPC Craig Ranch.
Other contenders
T2. Matt Wallace, Troy Merritt (-13)
4.Kelly Kraft (-12)
T5. Keith Mitchell, Taylor Pendrith, Davis Riley (-11)
T8. SH Kim, Taiga Semikawa, Aaron Rai, Alex Noren, Keith Mitchell, Ben Kohles (-10)
T13. Nick Dunlap, Si Woo Kim, KH Lee, Zach Johnson, Adam Schenk, Byeong Hun An and five others (-9)
There are names with that number 9 under, including Dunlap, Kim and two-time tournament winner Lee, but Johnson is an interesting inclusion. The 2023 U.S. Ryder Cup captain hasn’t had the best of months after missing three consecutive individual cuts, highlighted by the Masters, where he went viral for something unrelated to his game. Still, in his 500th start on the PGA Tour, the two-time major champion is in the thick of it and credits a helmet mentality for getting him out of the hole.
“I tell you, this is going to sound, well, cliché, but my game has been good too; I just don’t have results from the season,” said Johnson. “Very frustrated with the lack of finishes. I worked hard. My only focus from mid to late fall last year until now has been just, for lack of a better term, working on the dirt, and I believe my best golf is still there.” coming up. Whether it’s this week or next week or the week after, whatever it is, I’m still so involved in this process that I just need to stay patient. The last two days have been really good.
Si Woo’s killer
Last year’s runner-up and one of this year’s favorites, Si Woo Kim, sat out most of the second round. On the wrong side of the cut number, the South Korean needed a massive finish to secure the weekend’s tee time. He was 2 under for the tournament with 10 holes to play and got to 3 under thanks to a birdie on his ninth hole, the par-5 18th. Kim remained at this number before launching five consecutive birdies and a closing eagle in her last six holes to play them in 7-under style. Not only did he play over the weekend, but he also returned to play in this golf tournament at 9 under.
Jordan Spieth packed his bags early
Between withdrawals from Will Zalatoris and Sungjae Im before the tournament and now a loss from Spieth, CJ Cup Byron Nelson will be without some star power heading into the weekend. Spieth opened his tournament with back-to-back darts on Thursday, but was unable to recapture the magic with his approach play over the next 34 holes. He played the par 5 poorly, seemed uncomfortable with certain lies on the fairway and never ran down the stretch. Spieth’s lingering wrist injury doesn’t help matters, but it’s clear there’s a lack of quality in his game at the moment. In his last 8 starts, Spieth:
2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson updated odds and picks
Odds via Sportsline Consensus
- Jake Knapp: 18/5
- Matt Wallace: 7-1
- Keith Mitchell: 10-1
- Troy Merritt: 14-1
- Alex Noren: 16-1
- Taylor Pendrith: 18-1
- Davis Riley: 18-1
- Si Woo Kim: 20-1
Let’s get off the beaten path and crush Ben Griffin at 55-1. He has been hitting very well so far this week and appears to have turned the corner on the greens after a poor putting performance on Thursday. He’s five behind Knapp, which leaves little room for error, but Griffin’s number still seems a bit inflated.
