Jake Knapp Is No. 2 In Scoring Average on Tour. He Says It Comes Down To Two Simple Changes.

Ask a casual golf fan to name the top 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 up.

Why not? After all, Knapp is near the top of the Tour in scoring average. He’s 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 low. His swing is known for the tempo, the rhythm and the way it looks completely effortless. But what’s changed recently that has helped him drop his scores is the foundation underneath the swing.

A few months ago, he did a video with a YouTube Channel called the Golf Supply. In it, Knapp discussed what has made the biggest difference in his game.

What’s changed?

Knapp described a version of his game from a few years back where he was working with a high-hands position at the top, an outside takeaway and a swing that could really only produce one shot shape: a draw with the occasional hook.

At the Tour level, draw-only golf is a limitation. He knew it had to change. Over the last four to five years, he made two specific adjustments that, by his own account, are what have taken his game to another level.

Change #1: He fixed his footwork

The first thing Knapp pointed to was his feet. He described getting too far into his 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 get more involved. Your timing gets inconsistent. For a player trying to compete at the highest level week after week, that kind of inconsistency is a real problem.

“My footwork wasn’t as good. I used to get like really into my toes and into my left toe.”

Getting more stable and grounded through the swing gave Knapp a platform to repeat his motion. He’s talked about wanting to hit the ball with his big muscles, his chest and his body, rather than relying on hand manipulation and feel. You can’t do that when your foundation is moving underneath you. Fixing the footwork made the rest of it possible.

Change #2: He got the club to a more neutral position and unlocked a second shot shape

The second change was getting the club into a more neutral position at the top of the swing. This gave Knapp the ability to hit a fade.

A fade lands softer. It holds its line into the wind. It lets you take on pins that a draw can’t access. When you can go both ways, course management becomes a completely different game.

“Back then, I couldn’t really hit fades. I just hit draws and hooks and that’s tough 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’s one of the longer players on Tour. He plays with feel, he thinks about his game at a high level and now he has the technical foundation to back it all up. The combination of distance, shot-shaping ability and a swing built on stability is a dangerous one.

The conversation around breakthrough players on Tour tends to happen after the fact, after the big win, or after the major. Knapp looks like he’s building toward something. The scoring numbers are already there.

He’s a player worth paying attention to before that happens.