VANCOUVER — Waking up on Sunday five-strokes behind leader James Allenby, 24-year old Jake Knapp plotted his way around Point Grey Golf & Country Club like a surgeon, firing a final-round 64 to claim his first Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada victory at the Canada Life Open.  

Knapp’s four-day total of 267, 21-under par, set the Canada Life Open tournament record, breaking Lee McCoy’s mark of 268, 20-under par, from 2017.

“It probably hasn’t sunk in quite yet,” said Knapp. “I got to Facetime my parents for a minute and my brother, but I think when I talk to them about what actually happened, it’ll sink in a bit more for sure.” 

Plagued with injuries in recent years, Knapp described the past few seasons as a “long and tough road” and was quick to give credit to his entire team who helped him battle his way back into full competition mode. 

“I love my parents, I can’t thank them enough for everything they do for me,” said the 57th-ranked player from the 2017 Mackenzie Tour Order of Merit. “They put up with me 24/7 and help me with travel and everything else. For them to stick with me through it all means the world and I can’t thank them and my team and my family enough.”

In contention for the duration of the week following an opening-round 65, Knapp lost some ground to the field due to a 2-under par 70 on Saturday and figured it would take a round similar to the one he played today in order to get the job done.

 “I’m staying with a host family, and Joe Harrison is there too, and we were talking about what it might take, I said 20 or 21-under,” said Knapp. “I knew that last group would be playing in front of a lot of people, like my group was yesterday, so I figured they’d be dealing with a little bit of the same.

“I sent a text to my coach this morning like, ‘what does a guy have to do to shoot 8 or 9-under today,” continued the Costa Mesa, California native. “He said, plain and simple, ‘go shoot 4-under on the front and shoot 4-under on the back.’” 

Knapp is obviously a great listener. With no bogeys to speak of on the front nine, and four birdies, he found himself halfway to his number as he spotted his name on the ninth-hole leaderboard among a log-jam of players around 18-under par. 

Making three more birdies between hole Nos. 12 and 15, Knapp holed-out from the bunker on hole No 17 for birdie, a shot he called “the shot of my life.” One more birdie for good measure on the 72nd hole and Jake Knapp reigned supreme by three strokes, firing 4-under on the front and 4-under on the back. 

“It means a lot, there’s so many good players out here,” said Knapp. “So many guys are going from the Mackenzie Tour to the Web.com Tour and to the PGA TOUR, it’s obvious that this is a proving ground to get to that next level.”

Not only does the win give the UCLA alumni a notable head-start on the Order of Merit, it also earns him an exemption into the RBC Canadian Open, taking place from June 3-9 at Hamilton Golf & Country Club. 

 “I haven’t played any PGA TOUR events since 2015, I tried not to think about that today, but it means a lot and we’ll see what I can do against the best players in the world,” said Knapp, who missed the cut in both his 2015 starts, one at the U.S. Open and one at the Farmers Insurance Open. “Ideally, I’d go out there and play well and let the chips fall where they do, but it’s just good to go test your game at that level for sure.” 

Firing a final-round 71 and finishing T2, Canadian James Allenby claimed the first Canada Life Canadian Player of the Week Award of the season and the $2,500 bonus that goes along with it.