U.S. Open 2024: Jake Knapp’s awesome fairway finder shot, explained

PINEHURST, N.C.— Four of the best golf swings in the 2024 U.S. Open field were playing in the same group on Wednesday.

2024 PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Jake Knapp and Ludvig Aberg all played their final nine-hole practice round together on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the first round. There was no lack of impressive shots from these four picturesque golf swings, but perhaps the best I saw came on the 18th tee box.

Jake Knapp pulled his TaylorMade mini driver, teed his ball low, took a divot, and rifilied a low fade down the right side of Pinehurst’s final fairway. I’m not good enough to describe the sound this shot made, but I can confirm that it sounded very cool.

As you can see in the video of the shot I got below.

This is Knapp’s fairway finder shot. Usually, shots like these are the golf equivalent of plain khakis: Boring and dependable, but they do the job. But Knapp’s boring, dependible shot happens to be extreamly cool.

I asked one of Knapp’s coaches, Golf Digest No. 9-ranked teacher Dana Dahlquist, how he hits it

“He moves his swing direction a little more left and hits less up on the ball,” Dahlquist says. “He feels less right side bend through the golf ball so he’s able to hit a nice fairway finding cut.”

A great shot to enjoy, but maybe not one the rest of us should try at home.