Connor Jones

The Greatest Round I Ever Saw (Almost) May 2025. I met a guy on the tee. His name was Jake Kneen @Kneener96 . Super nice guy, played college golf for Oakland in Michigan. I found out afterwards just how good he actually is. Two-time Michigan Open champion, he won it as an amateur in 2018 and again as a pro in 2022, and in all those years only one other man has ever done both. He's Monday-qualified for a PGA Tour event, played two US Amateurs, and three months before he stood on my first tee he'd been inducted into Oakland University's Hall of Honour. At the time all I knew was that this guy could play. Beautiful swing. And it was a perfect day for golf. Sunshine, no wind. Carnoustie with her pants down. That does not happen often out here. When she gives you a day like that, you have to take it, because she'll want it back. The first five holes were cruise control. Level par. Routine for a college golfer. Then we step onto the 6th. Hogan's Alley. First par 5 of the day. Colin Montgomerie calls it the hardest hole on the Open rota. And something kicks into gear. Jake rips a driver up the middle, around 300. Sticks his approach to 20 feet. Makes the putt. Eagle. From there we go on a run. Three birdies, a couple of dropped shots in among them, and he keeps coming. Then the 14th. Another bomb off the tee, and the approach over the Spectacles was pristine. He rolls in the putt. Second eagle of the day. Two eagles and three birdies at Carnoustie is world-class golf. I have never in my life seen anybody dismantle the middle of that course the way he did. And I'm starting to think to myself, this guy has the game to go course record. I was getting carried away on the inside. It's extremely rare to see golf that good. Because we walk off that green five under par, and we're facing the toughest four finishing holes in championship golf. The 15th held. Then bogey the 16th. Bogey the 17th. Double the 18th. One under. Off the back tees at Carnoustie. I see under par maybe once every two years, if I'm lucky, and it is still the lowest I have ever seen anybody go out there. Even when you think you've got her pinned, she waits until you're tired. Despite the finish, that was still some of the best golf I have ever seen. As you all know, I love my job. I love the people who come, and the stories of the average golfers. But I also adore watching a baller turn up, understated, and just let his golf do the talking. As I say in my book, she's never given me the same round twice.