Former nightclub bouncer Jake Knapp won a first PGA Tour event in just his ninth start by winning the Mexican Open by two strokes.
Knapp, 29, entered the final day with a four-shot lead and saw his lead disappear over the first seven holes.
But he rallied on the back nine with his round of 71 enough to finish at 19 under, with Finland’s Sami Valimaki closest at 17 under.
“I didn’t necessarily have my best performance today, that’s for sure,” Knapp said.
“I knew it was going to be scary. I knew it was going to be hard,” added the American rookie.
“But I was super excited about how I played down the stretch.”
The win comes just three years after Knapp failed to win a business card and took a job as a bartender at a restaurant that transformed into a nightclub at night.
“They needed a security guard and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m big enough, but I can stand there and look tough,'” he said.
Scotsman Robert MacIntyre was part of the chasing pack and finished six shots behind Knapp, while Englishman Matt Wallace went from sharing the lead at the halfway point with Knapp and Valimaki to eight under par overall.
