Nick Piastowski
September 19, 2021
Jim Knous on Saturday after a birdie at 18 on the Silverado Resort and Spa North Course.
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Jim Knous stood over a 17-footer for the first 54-hole lead of his career on the PGA Tour, which put him on his way to his first win since the 2016 San Juan Open in Mini-Tour State Open Circuit, and then it got even stranger.
“Yes, I have a lot going on,” he admitted.
There are conventional putting grips and deep putting grips for the left hand, and claw putting grips and arm lock putting grips, and “a lot” Saturday at the Fortinet championship. It starts by placing his right hand on the handle under his left. Then he sways from left to right. Then the right hand goes off. Then more wavering. Then the right hand returns. Then one, two, three practice strokes. Then more wavering. Then the right hand goes off again. Then it comes back again. It ends with the index finger curled along the handle and just the thumb over it.
Then he did this 17-foot.
“Maybe I’ll try,” said Trevor Immelman, a Masters Green Jacket winner, analyst on the Golf Channel.
Why not? He birded 2 on a 12-footer on the Silverado Resort and Spa North Course. And 5 on a 3 footer. And 6 on an 18 footer. And 7 on a 15 footer. And 8 on a 4 footer. And 9 on a 5 footer. And 16 on another 5 footer. And finally 18 for seven under 65 and part of the lead, with Maverick McNealy moving into the final lap on Sunday. In three rounds, Knous rolled just 300 foot putts and is Gained in Strokes: putting fifth in the field.
But if you’re still confused about setup, you know Derek from home is too.
“My buddy at home, Derek, said, ‘What are you doing with this? What is it? A moose claw? ‘ I said yes, ”said Knous.
“I used to just use it to practice punches and then it just feels good, so I took it about a month ago and it works great. I tend to see the breaks out here pretty well. Many of them have big swings and you can let your imagination run wild and that’s how I like to putt, so I was able to roll up some nice ones. “
A disease. A missed cut. Are you concerned about Jon Rahm going to the Ryder Cup?
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What brings us to Sunday. In 2018, after jumping around on the mini tours, Knous landed in the top 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour, earned his Big Tour card for 2019, and made 10 out of 18 cuts (including a top 10 at that tournament) . But in August 2019, he needed right wrist surgery and rehab. And in March 2020, Covid arrived. The Fortinet is now his penultimate attempt to keep his tour card.
“Yes, the pressure is obviously enormous,” said Knous. “Medical enhancement puts a strain on you all the time you play. I try to keep it in the back of my mind as best I can. Like I said before, I have the mentality of attacking every shot I hit and taking one shot at a time, one step at a time, one foot, left, right, left, right. As crazy as that sounds, sometimes it’s me to go left, right, left, right just to dumb it down and keep it as simple as possible, not to think about the overarching results that could be, right? “
Similar to the elk claw, there will be a lot going on at Knous.
“Yes, there really is nothing for me to lose,” he said. “I can go out and play freely and take the shots that I know I can hit and try to win the tournament. I know it sounds like a lot, but I’ll play that way because then I’ll be playing my best golf when I’m doing full swings, 100 percent committed swings. I try to direct the ball and take half hits so I just don’t play my best. I’ll go out there and be committed to every stroke and every putt and not hesitate at all and, as I said, try to win the tournament and not lose it. “
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Nick Piastowski