There’s something about the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open that seems to bring out the best in golfers from Colorado.
Over the last 50 years, an amazing four different golfers who grew up in the Centennial State have won the tournament. Kevin Stadler pulled off the trick most recently, three years ago, preceded by Jonathan Kaye (2004), Steve Jones (1997) and Dale Douglass (1970).
And on Monday, those good vibes seemed to be in full effect again.
In a Monday qualifier in which just the top three players earned spots in the Phoenix Open, two of qualifiers were Colorado residents. Michael Schoolcraft (pictured above) of Denver landed medalist honors with a bogey-free 10-under-par 62 at McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale, while Jim Knous of Littleton finished third (after Californian Alex Kim) with a 65.
The result is that Knous will be competing in his first PGA Tour event ever, while Schoolcraft will be making PGA Tour start No. 2. The Phoenix Open will run Thursday through Sunday amid the raucous atmosphere at TPC Scottsdale, which annually draws the largest galleries of the year on the PGA Tour. More than 600,000 people attended in 2016.
Schoolcraft, who finished ninth on the 2016 PGA Tour Canada money list, missed the cut in his PGA Tour debut, in the Shriners Hospital for Children Open in October 2015. The former University of Oklahoma golfer has conditional status on the Web.com Tour in 2017 after posting six top-20 finishes on PGA Tour Canada last year.
The 24-year-old Schoolcraft made an eagle and eight birdies in Monday’s qualifier.
As for Knous (left), it’s been a very eventful last couple of months.
In December, the former Colorado School of Mines golfer earned solid status on the Web.com Tour for the first time by finishing 23rd in the final stage of Q-school. Then this month, he played his first two events as a card-carrying member of the Web circuit, although he missed the cut in each case by an agonizing one stroke.
Then on Monday, less than a week after turning 27 years old, Knous took another big step, earning his first PGA Tour start. Knous made nine birdies at McCormick Ranch Golf Club in shooting 65 to land the final berth into the Phoenix Open. Cory Bacon, a friend from Mines, caddied for him on Monday and will do so in the tournament itself.
Knous is relishing the accomplishment all the more because for the last several years Knous and a bunch of college friends have made it a point to rent houses around Scottsdale and attend the Phoenix Open. This time around, all of them will be back for the 2017 edition, only Knous will be competing.
“It’s going to be incredible,” Knous told PGATour.com. “My college buddies and I … we all come down here and pile on 16 (the famously raucous par-3 at TPC Scottsdale), and get there super early and go watch and get rowdy …
“To be on the other side, actually hitting shots, is going to be wild. I’ve yelled at my fair share of golfers on No. 16, and now I’m going to be the guy getting yelled at.”
Knous, the 2012 NCAA Division II individual runner-up while at Mines, has long been known for his ability to shoot remarkably low scores in competition. Most notably, that includes the 2010 CGA Amateur, where he closed with a course-record 10-under-par 60 at Boulder Country Club to force a playoff, which was won by Wyndham Clark.
Schoolcraft and Knous will be joined in this year’s Phoenix Open field by Denver native Mark Hubbard, with whom Knous played junior golf in Colorado. Last year, Knous and his friends, wearing Broncos jerseys the day before the team won the Super Bowl, watched Hubbard play the 16th hole during the Phoenix Open. There, Hubbard also sported a Broncos jersey and tossed footballs into the stands. Knous turned out to be one of his “receivers” that day.
Perhaps this year Knous will be the one on the throwing end.
Also joining Schoolcraft and Knous in the field this week will be former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird, a Scottsdale resident who has posted third- and fifth-place finishes at the Phoenix Open since 2011.
