Ask a casual golf fan to name the best players on the PGA Tour right now and you’ll hear the usual list: Scottie Scheffler. Rory McIlroy. Matt Fitzpatrick. Jake Knapp probably won’t come out.
Why not? After all, Knapp is near the top of the tournament in scoring average. He is playing some of the best golf on Tour in 2026.
Knapp has been on Tour long enough to understand what it takes at this level to go down. His swing is known for its pace, rhythm and how it looks completely effortless. But what has changed recently that has helped him drop his scores is the foundation under the swing.
A few months ago, he made a video with one YouTube channel called The Golf Feed. In it, Knapp discussed what has made the biggest difference in his game.
What has changed?
Knapp described a version of his game from a few years ago where he worked with a high forehand position, an outside counter and a swing that could only really produce one shot shape: a draw with the fortuitous strike.
At the tournament level, draw-only golf is a limitation. He knew he had to change. Over the past four to five years, he made two specific adjustments that, by his account, have taken his game to the next level.
The first thing Knapp noticed were his legs. He described stepping too far into the toes at the top of the backswing, a move that creates instability.
It’s one of those things that doesn’t look dramatic on video, but has a cascading effect on everything that follows. When your base shifts, your body compensates. Your hands are more involved. Your timing becomes inconsistent. For a player trying to compete at the highest level week in and week out, this kind of inconsistency is a real problem.
“My feet weren’t so good. I used to go into my toes and my left toe.”
Becoming more consistent and swing-based gave Knapp a platform to replicate his swing. He has talked about wanting to hit the ball with his big muscles, his chest and his body, rather than relying on manipulation and hand feel. You can’t do that when your foundation is moving beneath you. Fixing the leg part made the rest of it possible.
Change #2: He moved the club to a more neutral position and unlocked a second swing shape
The second change was to place the club in a more neutral position at the top of the drive. This gave Knapp the ability to hit a fade.
A fade sits softer. She keeps her line in the wind. This allows you to get pins that a draw cannot access. When you can go both ways, course management becomes a whole different game.
“Back then, I couldn’t hit fades. I was just hitting draws and hooks and that’s hard to do to play well at a high level.”
Knapp’s rhythm is still there; he just has the club in a better position and he can repeat the swing.
Final thoughts
Knapp shot 59 earlier in his career. He is one of the tallest players on the Tour. He plays with feeling, he thinks about his game at a high level and now he has the technical base to back it all up. The combination of distance, the ability to shape the shot and a swing built on stability is a dangerous thing.
The talk about advanced players on Tour tends to happen after the fact, after the big win or after the big win. Knapp looks like he’s building toward something. The scoring figures are already there.
He’s a player worth keeping an eye on before that happens.
