The Break: A Good Knapp As Anthony Kim Comes Out of Hibernation

No Siesta for Knapp

The puns are easy to write about Jake Knapp, but now that's PGA Tour Winner Jake Knapp to you, me and everyone else. The long-hitting Knapp won the Mexico Open at Vidanta for his first PGA Tour win, coming in just his ninth-career PGA Tour start. He overcame a horribly slow start on Sunday at Vidanta Vallarta to wind up winning the event by two shots over Sami Valimaki on 19-under 265.

Knapp was crushing it off the tee and finding generous fairways throughout the first three rounds, but the gravity of the situation hit him on Sunday afternoon. He just couldn't keep it straight with the driver, which is his biggest weapon. He was 2 over early in the round, letting Valimaki -- and, ostensibly others -- back into the tournament. However, Knapp found two birdies into the clubhouse and didn't drop another shot. That was good enough to earn his first PGA Tour trophy.

Knapp's story is really cool. As you might have heard on the telecast, he worked as a night club bouncer to help him make ends meet while he was chasing his dream of making it to the PGA Tour. He did what anyone would do that's incredibly committed to getting something they feel is within arm's grasp: find a way to fight for it. He got paid off on Sunday with a $1.458 million check, a two-year PGA Tour exemption, a Masters invite and a spot in the Signature events for the rest of the year. Those are the kinds of stories that I love about golf and sports and life. People take risks, have goals and make sacrifices to find a way.

The Mexico pit stop gives way to the Florida Swing and the newly dubbed Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches (nee The Honda Classic). PGA National's Champion Course hosts 19 of the world top 50, which is a pretty solid get for this event's first year with a new sponsor. Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tom Kim and Cam Young highlight the field that will take on the Bear Trap in an event that is typically sneaky fun by the time Sunday afternoon comes.

2024 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches: Field | Rankings | Betting Odds | One and Done | Past Results | Cheat Sheet | Recent Form | Finish Database

Anthony Kim is Back (on LIV)

For about a month now, there have been rumors and conjecture about Anthony Kim returning to professional golf in 2024. Golf.com broke the news in January, with the suggestion that Kim, who hasn't played on the PGA Tour since 2012, had been talking to the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and potential sponsors about a comeback.

One condition of that comeback would be overcoming the reported and long-repeated $10 million insurance policy Kim had been collecting on himself that was contingent on him not playing professional golf. Well, we know who has demonstrated the capacity and willingness to write outsized checks to overvalued assets in the name of collecting them.

So, Anthony Kim is playing on LIV Golf this week in Saudi Arabia as part of what is rumored to be a three-event deal. He won't play on any of the 13 LIV Golf teams, so he'll be a sideshow all to himself. 

It's a weird choice to have Kim return in King Abdullah Economic City given that he seems a resoundingly American cult phenomenon. Most people who saw him play last and remember it fondly are at least old enough to be the American president. They're the ones who want to see if he still has it or something close to it. He might, and he might not. But LIV is willing to cut a check to him in the name of drawing buzz and interest. I just don't know how much of that is there, particuarly among American fans who would have to watch him in the middle of the night if they want to see him play live. (There will be tape-delayed options on the CW, etc.)

There's almost no way Kim is fully prepared for a return to competitive golf, even if he has been playing and dominating in high-roller money games this past dozen years (which he may or may not have been doing). He may represent himself well, and he may show poorly. The outcome isn't why LIV is paying him whatever his number is to get over that insurance policy or whatever other assets he has that are contingent on him staying away from pro golf. And that feels like the saddest part of this. In real time, golf is changing. Some of that is for the better, as the PGA Tour is starting to realize that its top players are the best draws they have. However, it's also for the worse when a guy who called pro golf a distant memory suddenly comes back for the right price and gets injected like a circus act into a tour whose players are so desperate to be taken seriously on this new-ish circuit. It seems a counterintuitive move all in the name of a short-term high.

So, are you going to watch?

In the Loop

Patty Tavatanakit is all the way back, winning her second event in a row at the Honda LPGA Thailand.

Darius Van Driel broke through on the DP World Tour with a win at the Magical Kenya Open.

Our golf travel website, GolfTripX, is back at GolfNewsNet.com!