Jake Knapp is spending his weekends much differently these days as a rookie on the PGA Tour after working security at a restaurant in his hometown little more than two years ago.
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A first-time Tour winner earlier this year, Knapp went into this weekend leading the CJ Cup Byron Nelson after a second consecutive 7-under 64 on Friday.
At 14-under 128, he was a stroke ahead of Troy Merritt (62) and first-round leader Matt Wallace (66), and two ahead of Kelly Kraft (66).
"Even when I was doing any of that stuff, I always knew this was what I wanted to do, and felt like it's where I should be. Just wasn't there yet," Knapp said. "Just kept working away and sticking at it."
Merritt closed his season-low round with an eagle at the 531-yard ninth hole, where he hit his approach to 16 feet and made that putt. He had birdied four of the previous six holes.
Wallace finished on the same par 5 later in the day, and saved par after driving into a native area and then chunking a shot from there to under a bridge.
Hometown favourite Jordan Spieth, the highest-ranked player in the field at No.20, shot a 70 to finish at 4-under 138 and miss the cut by two strokes. On the 16th, his wayward drive ricocheted off the elbow of a male spectator back into the fairway. He still bogeyed the hole, then parred his last two.
Defending champion Jason Day closed his round with a 35-foot par putt for a 70, to make the cut on the line at 6-under 136.
The former world No.1 opened with a 66 and was just three off the pace, but his second round consisted of four birdies and three bogeys.
Harrison Endycott (67, 66) is now the leading Australian at nine under. The 27-year-old Sydneysider, who had six birdies and a lone bogey, is tied 13th.
Compatriots Adam Scott (69, 65) and Min Woo Lee (66, 68) are both tied 25th, one behind Endycott and six off the lead.
Knapp's only bogey through the two rounds was on his 12th hole Friday, the dogleg No. 3, where his drive went into the left rough. But he birdied four of his last six holes, that stretch starting with a 32-foot putt at the par-3, 192-yard fourth hole.
"Obviously, a putt you're not trying to make," he said. "Hit it a little bit harder than I would've liked and luckily it was on a good line and went in."
Knapp, who turns 30 on May 31, lost his card on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour before taking the part-time security job in the autumn of 2021 in Costa Mesa, California, where for nearly nine months he worked nights - often until 2 or 3am. He would practise and go to the gym in between his work shifts.
He got his third win on PGA Tour Canada in August 2022, and last year earned his PGA Tour card by finishing the season 13th on the Korn Ferry Tour. He won the Mexico Open in his fifth start this season.
Australian Associated Press
