Q. Good playing to start here. What was clicking for you today?
JAKE KNAPP: I think I was just hitting it pretty good for the most part. Did a good job of just taking advantage when I did have my chances and whatnot. Being able to get a putt to fall and an eagle on 3 was nice. But I think I hit it pretty solid, didn't have to scramble too much. A couple bogeys but nothing too crazy.
Q. This time last year this was your hot streak of the year. Is there something about this time of year that's more comfortable or is there anything specific thing you'd attribute it to?
JAKE KNAPP: I think just being on the West Coast close to home is always nice. This week being able to sleep in my own bed, and then Torrey and some of those courses I just kind of always grew up in California and then playing on the West Coast, so I think I'm just comfortable with the grass types and the weather and how far the ball is going, all that sort of stuff.
But yeah, just always try to come out at the start of the year ready to go.
Q. What's your commute like this week?
JAKE KNAPP: It's usually like 15 minutes. This week is like 20, 25, depending on traffic, maybe 40. But it's not too bad. Well worth the drive.
Q. Have you noticed more support as you've gotten more established on TOUR?
JAKE KNAPP: Yeah, for sure. It was pretty funny going around Farmers as a rookie last year, and you walk up to a tee box and you just hear people mumbling, who's this guy, what's his name, who is this. You had to be a real true golf fan to know who I was last year, and I feel like this year I hear a lot more "go Knapp" and "Knapp time" a lot more this year.
Q. Is that something people might not realize from the outside is just how much you guys can hear from inside the ropes?
JAKE KNAPP: Probably, yeah. We act like we don't hear everything, but you hear most things. But at the same time, a lot of it kind of goes in one ear and out the other. For the most part when I'm out there I'm either getting lost in what I just did or what I'm about to do, so I'm not listening for anything. If somebody yells something egregious, obviously you might hear it, but for the most part I keep my head down and stay to work.
Q. This seems like a course that yields a lot of birdies and a lot of bogeys. There's a lot of risk-reward out there. Do you think that's true and do you like that?
JAKE KNAPP: For sure. I mean, like a hole today like 15, you have that front pin location where as long as you hit a good tee shot, if it's not like this morning, it wasn't into the wind and had a nice little comfortable 5-iron. If that hole is now all of a sudden a little bit into the wind and you miss it left, now you're dropping 3, you're a little farther back, you might be able to get there, you'd lay up, so yeah, you're always kind of -- you feel like one good shot away from a birdie and one bad shot away from making an easy 5.
Q. I heard you say you spend more time practicing here than actually playing the course. Is that schedule related, or why practice but not play it as much?
JAKE KNAPP: This place is just busy. They have tee times like clockwork. We always have the first tee time available. But being with PXG I can go up to Scottsdale National, so I play a lot of golf up there, and then I joined Whisper Rock, so I go and play golf up there and just use this place -- it's a little closer to home, so I just use the driving range.
Q. For you, the crowd here, does that do anything for you? Does it affect your game in any way?
JAKE KNAPP: You know, you might tense up over something for a second or your heart beats a little bit quicker on 16 or at certain times, but I think compared to last year, no, I think I'm a lot more comfortable now than I was last year. I think just knowing what to expect out here helps with that.
If there was nobody here, yeah, of course, I think it would be a little bit different.
But I think just this event in general just draws out such a big crowd, and it's just a little different atmosphere than every other event.
Q. Can you break down 3, the eagle that you had for us?
JAKE KNAPP: Yeah. I hit a drive that I thought was going to maybe ends up in the first cut and snuck in the edge of the fairway and we were talking about a number to the pin and I kind of had two clubs in my hand, decided to go with one less and hit it hard and landed just right of it and was able to just kind of bank off the bottom of the ridge to the back edge of the green and made like a 20-, 25- footer.
Q. Do you remember the first time you played in front of a crowd or had fans to acknowledge?
JAKE KNAPP: I mean, Farmers Insurance, my junior year in college I Monday qualified into. That was definitely the first atmosphere where it was like, this is a lot of people. I think you get used to it when you go from junior golf to college golf and you have maybe 15 people following your group, then like 30 or 40, and it doesn't feel like that big of a deal. Then you get into that, and all you see is people, so that was a little bit nerve-racking. But I think that was probably the first time for me.
Q. When it first happens is there a shot of adrenaline you have to adjust for at all?
JAKE KNAPP: For sure. On the first tee I remember my brother was caddying for me and I was supposed to hit a 2-iron. I was so nervous, as soon as they announced the first guy's name, I reached over in my bag and grabbed driver because I was like, there's no way I can hit a 2-iron right now.
Q. What's the story of the Ducks logo on your collar?
JAKE KNAPP: I knew Tim Ryan, who was the president of the team for a while. He's a member at my home course. Then Aaron Teats, who was the head of marketing, now Aaron is the president, and we always joked about trying to do a deal or something like that, and when I first got on Korn Ferry, they kind of jumped on and were like, yeah, why not, let's do it. We've done it since like 2020. It's been a pretty awesome partnership to have.
Q. Are you the only guy on TOUR with -- definitely with a Ducks sponsorship.
JAKE KNAPP: Definitely with a Ducks sponsorship for sure. I think probably the only NHL -- I know there's some guys with some logos on bags, but I'm not sure what kind of deal or affiliation they have with them.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports