Professional golfer Jake Knapp has pulled out of the Truist Championship, marking the second major tournament in a row he’s had to skip because of an ongoing thumb injury.
Austin Smotherman will take Knapp’s place at Quail Hollow this week. Smotherman was originally scheduled to play in the Myrtle Beach Classic.
The 31-year-old golfer also had to bow out of the previous week’s Cadillac Championship. Both tournaments are major events featuring $20 million prize pools, guaranteed payouts with no elimination cuts, and enhanced FedEx Cup points — exactly the kind of high-stakes competitions Knapp has been striving to reach.
Last month, Knapp secured one of the final spots to compete in the Masters tournament, where he achieved an impressive 11th place finish. But his performance dipped at the RBC Heritage, another premier event, where he tied for 74th place before having to withdraw from the next two tournaments.
Despite these recent setbacks, Knapp maintains his career-high 36th position in the Official World Golf Ranking and sits 14th in FedEx Cup standings. This gives him breathing room to heal from his thumb injury, thanks to an exceptional early season that featured five straight tournaments finishing tied for 11th or better, including a tied-for-fifth showing at the Farmers Insurance Open.
This season, Knapp has posted seven top-11 results across nine tournament appearances, with his only missed cut occurring at The Players Championship. He remains scheduled to compete in next week’s PGA Championship.
