It sure seems that Philip Knowles deserved some golf grace coming his way, because over the last couple of years the 28-year-old from Florida has experienced horrible luck. He’s endured a freak injury and the recurrence of the very painful shingles virus—in his eye, no less.
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Still not feeling 100 percent, Knowles is playing on a medical extension on the PGA Tour, but running out of time to retain his card, with only two cuts made in 11 starts, with his last weekend play coming in March.
So was it a case on Friday in the Rocket Classic of karma coming back to the dad of two young kids who has made only $75,000 this season? Knowles walked away from Detroit Golf Club with that feeling after he chipped in THREE times for eagle in shooting an eight-under-par 64.
Following a first-round 66, Knowles has put himself in a tremendous spot to change his year on the weekend. At 14 under, he was tied for first with Chris Kirk as the afternoon wave played on Friday in soft conditions. Knowles is ranked 519th in the world and 195th on the FedEx Cup points list and a strong finish could go a long way toward him keeping his card.
To put a potential win in perspective: First prize in the Rocket is $1.728 million and fifth pays $393,600. Knowles has earned $506,376 in a combined 87 starts on PGA Tour-sanctioned circuits since he turned pro in 2019.
“When you’re playing bad, you never feel like you’re going to play good again, and when you have days like today, you just don’t understand how you could ever shoot a bad round of golf,” Knowles said after the second round. “So, it was super rewarding. I got pretty lucky a couple times; I hit quality shots that ended up going in the hole. But I can’t imagine chipping in three times for eagle ever again in my life.”
As talented as tour players are, three eagles in a round is rare, with only four occurrences of it happening since the start of the 2023 season. But none were achieved the way Knowles did it—by making lengthy chip-ins on par 5s.
Starting on the 10th, Knowles was even par, with two birdies and two bogeys, before making his first eagle at the 17th when his approach came up short of the green and he pitched into the hole from 27 yards.
Knowles birdied the next two holes to get to four under for the day and then made a second eagle at the fourth from 37 yards. He kept climbing the yardage ladder, holing out a 40-yard shot the seventh to complete the treble.
“We laughed about it a little bit, me and my caddie. This felt like at least a little bit of the evening out of that law of averages. Not that I should expect to chip in for eagle multiple times,” Knowles said.
The past couple of years have produced one setback after another. Upon graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour, Knowles suffered a freak accident early in ’23 when he severed a nerve in his thumb while taking out the trash. Knowles sat out the rest of the season and as he mounted his comeback in ’24, he came down with shingles in his right eye on the way to the tournament in Mexico.
“That persisted. I got on meds and then it came back, and I got off meds and it came back, and that happened four times over the next like six months,” Knowles explained on Friday.
“Mixed in there as well I got a really bad case of mono at one point.”
That’s some rough luck, and Knowles said he’s still not fully healthy, while adding, “life goes on.” He has continued to battle adversity this season, including missing six cuts in his last seven starts before the Rocket.
“I’ve got two little girls; I’ve got a wife who needs me to help,” he said. “It’s not like I can spend my days just woe is me.”
Are you listening golf gods?
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
