Professional golfer Jake Knapp will not compete in this week’s PGA Championship after pulling out due to a left thumb sprain injury.
The 31-year-old golfer officially withdrew on Monday from the year’s second major championship tournament. Tom Hoge has been selected from the alternate list to fill Knapp’s spot in the 156-player field at Aronimink Golf Club.
Knapp has been absent from professional tour competition since his 74th-place finish among 82 competitors at the RBC Heritage tournament. While he has not publicly discussed the injury, it appears the thumb problem likely developed during that Heritage event.
Following that tournament, Knapp has been forced to skip both the Cadillac Championship and Truist Championship, two high-stakes events worth $20 million each that served as preparation for the PGA Championship.
The injury setback comes at an unfortunate time for Knapp, who was experiencing a strong 2024 season with five top-10 tournament finishes from January through March, including an impressive 11th-place showing at the Masters.
Hoge, age 36, brings experience to the replacement role with his sole PGA Tour victory coming at the 2022 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Last year he failed to make the cut at three major championships, though he did achieve a ninth-place tie at the 2022 PGA Championship, marking his best major tournament performance to date.
With Hoge moving into the main field, Kevin Yu from Taiwan now moves up to become the tournament’s first alternate.
