Knapp drew strength from home

There have been stops and setbacks, yet hope and success for Jake Knapp during his quest to reach his first U.S. Open.

Truth be told, his goal is to be a top-ranked golfer on the PGA Tour. But for this part of his story, featuring his most recent achievement, qualifying for the U.S. Open had been on his check list.

We must go back, though, to last summer to find a new spark to Knapp’s motivation. After his sophomore year at UCLA, the former Estancia High standout needed a pick-me-up and it came from a “Sarge,” Tom Sargent, the head pro at Mesa Verde Country Club.

“When I was in high school I kind of thought I was bulletproof,” Knapp said Friday at Mesa Verde Country Club. “I was playing great golf and I was winning a bunch of tournaments. Everything was kind of going right and then as soon I got to college everything sort of flipped. I got hurt my freshman year, I didn’t play well my sophomore year at all and then I had sort of a sit-down meeting with Tom Sargent and a couple of other people and they helped me bring me back to what I had been doing. Tom and I talked about getting my swagger back. That’s something we talked about for a long time and that’s something I always kept in my mind during tournaments.”

Knapp displayed his swagger during the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifier in Newport Beach, where he tied for second with a 7-under-par after 18 holes at Newport Beach Country Club (-7) and 18 at Big Canyon Country Club (even) on June 8.

Afterward a reporter asked Knapp for his greatest memories of past U.S. Open events. Knapp said he did not have any, instead saying the qualifying events had been memorable for him. He said he had been happy to see his friends qualify for the U.S. Open, but he had also used it as motivation because he wanted to join them.

This year, he has.

He begins Thursday at 3:01 p.m. on No. 1 at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, Wash. His tee time is just 30 minutes after Tiger Woods, Knapp’s idol while growing up in Orange County. Knapp practiced many of Woods’ mannerisms and could do an identical impression of sinking a long putt and following it up with the big fist pump on local courses like Mesa Verde and Costa Mesa.

Knapp became a fixture on those courses as a kid, before high school, when he was under five feet, and he was known as “Little Jake.” Some other people called him, “short knocker.” That, too, served as motivation back then, only causing Knapp to work harder and drink lots of milk, as he chased his older brother, Ryan, who is 6-5 and also excelled at Estancia, before going on to compete at Orange Coast College and UC Irvine.

Ryan was Jake’s caddy in the sectional qualifier and will also be on his “little” brother’s bag for the U.S. Open. Ryan was great for Jake during the sectional qualifier, as UCI played several of its matches at Big Canyon, where Ryan also now works sometimes as a caddy.

Jake, who played a practice round with defending U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer on Tuesday, knows a bit more about Chambers Bay. He played there last year in April for the Redhawk Invite with UCLA and finished fourth with a 69.

Jake calls Chambers Bay “a beautiful course,” and it’s a “British Open style course” that is right in his “wheel house,” because of his remarkably long drives.

Qualifying for his first U.S. Open was great, but he wants more.

“I’m going there to win,” he said.

There’s that Jake Knapp swagger again.

About two years ago, Sargent and Mesa Verde Country Club made Jake an honorary member. It’s been a great place for Jake to refine his skills and after that sit-down with Sargent, he actually increased his practice workload.

“If there’s a guy on the Tour that’s working harder than Jake I’d like to meet him,” Bob Knapp, Jake’s father, said Friday during a toast/send-off for Jake and Brian Campbell.

Bob Knapp has seen his son maintain confidence through adversity, even after injuring his wrist during his freshman season and after missing on qualifying for the U.S. Open the past two years.

“He’s always loved to play [golf],” Bob Knapp said of his son. “I think his confidence comes from loving to play or that love to compete. His real confidence really started to come around sophomore or junior year [of high school], winning a lot. His confidence now comes from doing what he loves.”

Jennifer Knapp, Jake’s mother, says her youngest son always displayed confidence, even around age 6 when he made sure he dressed sharp, like a pro, to the golf course.

“He’s had his ups and downs,” Jennifer said of her youngest son. “But this is the first tournament he’s going in really healthy. He’s in a zone. He probably won’t really look me in the eye. You can tell that he has that mentality of, ‘Let me go.’”

Bob and Jennifer said they have been overwhelmed and humbled from the community support for their sons. They say so many have come into contact with Jake throughout his upbringing and youth sports that those coaches and parents feel a part of this recent success.

Bob has been sharing the experience via social media, where he reminds himself and others to “enjoy the walk.”

It appears Jake has been enjoying the walk, while maintaining his strong passion for the game. He posed for several photos with Mesa Verde members on Friday night. Then on Saturday morning, he enjoyed a quaint and intimate breakfast with family and close friends at Costa Mesa Country Club.

His close friends, Zach Eddy and Carter Norris, who both played at Newport Harbor, showed up to wish their buddy well before he left for Chambers Bay.

His junior golf instructors, Brad Butler and John Ortega, also attended, wearing T-shirts that read, “The Breakfast Club,” a small group that Jake has been a part of at Costa Mesa.

They’ve all been around to support Jake, through the good and the bad.

Before high school, he dealt with Sever’s syndrome, a painful heel condition, that caused Jake to solely focus on golf, rather than multiple sports.

Then there was the wrist injury, that caused him to miss a couple of months after he hurt it during pick-up basketball at UCLA.

“It’s just life,” Jake said. “It’s crazy. It’s something you have to deal with and it’s something I’ll have to deal with my entire life. Golf is a crazy game. You have ups and downs. You’re going to play great, you’re going to play bad. But it’s a great game filled with great people, so you kind of just have to stick it out.”

One of those great people for Jake has been Sargent, who beamed with pride Friday night during the special send-off.

Sargent spoke with fondness and deep knowledge of Jake as he introduced him before the toast.

“A lot of us remember Jake when he was 5 or 6,” Sargent said. “When the golf bag was bigger than he was. But if you have ever seen a 5-year-old with swagger, Jake was it. He just kind of walked out and looked at everyone and knew he was good.”

Sargent wanted to help Jake regain that type of confidence before his junior year at UCLA. Jake opened the year with a big win at the Husky Invitational Sept. 23 at Gold Mountain Golf Club’s Olympic Course in Bremerton, Wash.

In addition to earning medalist honors, he led the Bruins to a share of first place with a birdie putt from about 12 feet out on the final hole.

Jake finished his junior year with 12 rounds under par, two top-10 finishes and a 72.7 average.

He also had qualifying for a pro event, aside from the U.S. Open, on his check list. He checked that off when he qualified for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

“We talked about what I wanted to accomplish and how I was going to get there,” Jake said of his meaningful conversation with Sargent. “I didn’t really do anything else, but work on my game. I would come here [at MVCC] in the morning and I would practice all day. I would go eat lunch and come back and practice. I was just very focused and very different. I was tired of playing bad and I was tired of seeing my other friends succeed so that really helped.”