When the sun rose on Thursday in the Motor City, the course record at Detroit Golf Club was 9-under 63.
Less than 48 hours later, that feat has been broken three times at the Rocket Classic, with Jake Knapp setting the new benchmark by shooting a second-round 61.
In the first round, Min Woo Lee matched the record, but in the afternoon wave, Aldrich Potgieter and Kevin Roy carded 62s—eight minutes apart.
“I was surprised with Kevin Roy's 10 under,” Potgieter, a 20-year-old South African, said Thursday. “I was standing on the last hole and I looked at the leaderboard and saw someone else at 10, so I was real eager to make that putt on the last. But it’s impressive. We teed off and Min Woo was finishing, so I saw his score at 9 under so I knew there was some opportunities out there.”
Unlike Potgieter and Roy, Knapp didn’t go low on Day 1, shooting even par. That, however, fueled him for Friday, in which he vaulted 123 spots on the leaderboard.
“I was just kind of bummed last night,” Knapp said, “because I felt like in the practice rounds and everything felt like I was hitting it pretty nice, and I know this course sets up well for me, so to shoot even par the first day just feels like you're shooting yourself in the foot, but feels nice to bounce back.”
Thursday: 72
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 27, 2025
Friday: 61
Top shots from @KnappTime_LTD's course-record @RocketClassic ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/08CyeJEYoI
Knapp is now the first player to break 60 and card a 61 or lower in the same season. The 31-year-old shot 59 in March at the Cognizant Classic, the 15th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history.
And he nearly did it again in Detroit. The world No. 99 had nine birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free round. On his final few holes, Knapp was shooting—literally—for deja vu.
Not to mention, Knapp once shot 58 on a public course near his home in California, so he’s no stranger to miraculous scorecards.
“I’m definitely not afraid of shooting a low number,” he said. “I feel like when I start making birdies, I want to make more. I was even kind of thinking about 59 when I stuck it close on my third to last for eagle and figured I could maybe eagle that and birdie the last two.”
Knapp, though, finished T6 at the Cognizant despite his historic opening round. And if he wants to get over the finish line at the Rocket Classic, he still has his work cut out for him, sitting T7 at 11 under, three strokes behind co-leaders Chris Kirk, Andrew Putnam and Philip Knowles, who holed out for eagle three times on Friday.
Meanwhile, Potgieter is at 12 under, Roy is at 11 under and Lee is T35 at 8 under.
Records are nice, but these guys play to win.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jake Knapp Shoots Historic 61 for Fourth Course Record in Two Days at Rocket Classic.
