The Unlikely Career of Jim Knous
Jim Knous took the road less traveled to get to the PGA Tour. The majority of tour players have illustrious amateur careers. Many played for top Division 1 college programs and competed around the country at junior tournaments starting as young as age 12. Jim Knous has no such resume.
The fact that he could get on the PGA Tour is testimony to anyone being able to reach the tour. He grew up in Basalt, Colorado, about 20 miles west of Aspen. It’s an area better known for great skiers than golfers. “It wasn’t a long season,” said Jim. “We skied in the winter and played golf in the summer,” said the lanky 34 year old. “That’s what my parents wanted to do, so that’s what the kids did. My parents were very active. I also played a little baseball.”
Jim was a good but not great high school golfer. He didn’t win the state high school championship or other state junior championships. “I didn’t start making strides in the game until my senior year in high school,” he said.
He was so under the radar that only Tyler Kimble, coach at the Colorado School of Mines, showed any interest in him. The Colorado School of Mines is one of the top engineering schools in the country, offering only engineering degrees. At Mines academics comes before athletics in student life. “I went to Mines with academics in mind not golf.” No soft classes at Mines.
A strong student in math and science, Mines was a great fit for Jim. “As a Division II school there was very little scholarship money for golf,” said Chuck Canepa a former volunteer assistant coach.
“I think multi sport athletes tend to develop later,” said Tyler Kimble. “He had not played much as a kid. Kind of an old school golfer. He just kept getting better. He was a range rat. At school in the winter we spent hours inside, hitting into a net with me taking video. He wanted it. He steadily got better.”
“When I got to my junior year at Mines I started to think about playing professionally,” said Jim. In the summer of 2010 he shot 60 in the final round of the state amateur at Boulder Country Club. “I think it’s still the course record. I got beat in a play off by Wyndham Clark.”
“He won every college tournament in the fall of his senior year,” said Coach Kimble. “He won more tournaments in the spring, then won the conference championship and was second in the NCAA Division II National Championship.”
“I turned pro after I graduated. I won the first tournament I played as a pro, the Navajo Trail Open and $5,000,” Jim said. “I moved to Scottsdale and played the Gateway Tour.” This is a small tour that operated in the Phoenix area where the purse was made up from the entry fees of the players. “I just steadily got better.”
“I got through the Korn Ferry qualifying school in 2016, then finished in the top 25 in 2018 giving me status on the PGA Tour for the 2019-2020 season.”
Jim has twice shot 62 to Monday qualify for the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Being able to shoot a very low score takes a unique mental strength. “I have made up a word for it,” said Jim. “I call it go-low-ability. To be a successful tour player you have to be able to do this. Most players get to five or six under, go into a “protect” mode and just try to get in. It gives me confidence because I realize I’m playing well. It’s a fun game to keep going lower. It’s something you have to learn, it’s not instinctive,” he said. “Protecting leads to bogeys.”
In his first PGA Tour event, the Safeway Open, he finished in the top 10. It would be the highest finish of his career. He continued to play well making cuts in 2020, but suffered a wrist injury six months into the season. He played with the wrist hurting for a period, then injured it further. It took 18 months for him to get back to pre- injury form.
How did you handle being paired with players you had read about you whole life, I asked. Was there an intimidation factor?
“I was paired with guys that had been on the Korn Ferry Tour, so I knew them. In addition I was never bothered by big crowds.” Pairings are made based on the group a player is in. For instance, tournament winners are paired together, top money winners that have not won are paired and then lesser money winners and Korn Ferry graduates.
He went out for the 2021-2022 season but did not play well and was relegated back to the Korn Ferry Tour for 2023. A nagging back injury led to play that was less than stellar, caused him to rethink what he wanted to do.
“I was packing up to leave for a trip when my four year old son said to me, ‘I don’t want you to go dad.’ That hit me hard. I told my wife that if I didn’t have PGA Tour or Korn Ferry status for 2024 I would look for other opportunities.
Jim and his wife Heidi have three children. “I want to be a Dad that comes home every night.”
He failed to earn any status for the 2024 season and approached the Ping Golf Club company. He had been on the staff playing Ping clubs for 12 years and was aware there were eight Colorado School of Mines engineering graduates working for Ping. They offered and he accepted a position at Ping.
In a story book end to his PGA Tour career Jim shot 62 and won the Monday qualifier to get in the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2024. Sinking a bunker shot on the 36th hole, he made the cut. In his final round he birdied 4 of the last 6 holes to finish in 30th place. “I think he played as well as I’ve ever seen him play,” said Chuck Canepa.
His coach, Tyler Kimble, may have summed up Jim Knaus’ future PGA Tour prospects best when he said, “You’re not selfish enough to be a tour player.”
Playing the tour is stressful on the family. Jim has the ability to make a living playing the tour, but at what cost?
“The highlight of my career was just making it to the PGA Tour,” he said. “There were long odds and it’s hard to make. That and making a hole in one at Torrey Pines on a Sunday. It was great to have my family come out. I still hope to play a lot,” he said. “My goal is to finish in the top 25 in the PGA of America tournament which qualifies players for the PGA Championship. I will play events in the SW Section of the PGA, the Colorado Open and others.”
“He is as fine a person as you will ever meet,” said Chuck Canepa.
It’s a long way from Basalt Colorado to the PGA Tour, but Jim Knaus made the trip. He’s a good person with a firm grip on life, looking forward to what’s ahead. There are many stories on how players make it to the PGA Tour. Jim Knous’s is one of the best in A Life In Golf.
Jim Knous
