Jake Knapp cards bogey-free 59 at Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches

When Jake Knapp gets going, look out.

Knapp carded 12-under 59 in the opening round of the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, making 12 birdies and six pars at PGA National Resort (The Champion Course) to start his week with a flourish. It’s the 15th sub-60 score in PGA TOUR history.

Knapp stood 10-under through 14 holes at the par-71 venue, on the precipice of carding golf's magic number. Then he drained a 31-foot birdie at the par-3 15th, the first leg of the famed "Bear Trap," to move within a birdie of breaking 60. He finished par-par-birdie for 59.

Needing a birdie at the par-5 18th to post golf’s magic number, he nearly had a chance at one better, striping a 6-iron to 19 feet on his 200-yard second shot. He two-putted for a closing birdie to shoot the first 59 at PGA National Resort (The Champion Course) in tournament history. Knapp is very much a cool customer inside the ropes, and his demeanor Thursday fit the bill.

"I knew obviously I had it going really early, but at the same time, that can happen and then it can kind of fizzle out pretty quick," Knapp said afterward. "I thought I did a good job of just trying to focus on shot by shot and not letting what happened or what could happen affect anything. Then once I made the long putt on 15, it was like, okay, now this is kind of here.

"I didn't really think about it (on 18), to be honest with you. I think you start thinking about it too much, you're just going to add pressure to something that's very unnecessary. At the same time, if it was Sunday and the tournament was coming down to the line, it might be different, but at the same time it's Thursday morning and I'm doing my best to just put myself in position going into the weekend. Tried to just focus on the shot at hand and trust what I was doing all day."

Knapp started fast with five straight birdies, and he added a birdie at the ninth to turn in 6-under 29. He kept the pedal down with birdies at 10, 11, 13, 14. Nine of his first 10 birdies came on putts from inside 12 feet; the exception was a 62-footer from the front of the green at the par-4 second hole.

After his 31-footer at the par-3 15th, he two-putted for par on the Bear Trap's subsequent two holes, from 23 feet and 13 feet, respectively. Then he flushed driver down the middle at the par-5 18th and took care of business from there.

"You think about 59, but it's like I'll still think tonight about how it should have been 58 or 57 or 56," Knapp said. "Fifty-nine is great, but you always could technically do better, but it could always be worse. I wasn't too worried about breathing room. If I got to 18 and I was already at 12-under par, I was going to play the hole the exact same way.

"Whether I shoot 89 or 59, I'm going to come back out and do my job tomorrow. I feel like over the last couple weeks I've started to get into a better head space of just keep trusting the stuff I've been working on and that it's going to keep getting better, and come out tomorrow and just try to keep doing it."

Knapp has good vibes at this venue and in February overall. He finished fourth at last year’s Cognizant Classic in his tournament debut, a week after winning the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld for his first PGA TOUR title.

Now he’s tracking toward another victory, and with a place in a fun corner of golf history.