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Larry Bohannan takes you through the four par-3 holes of Stadium Course

Desert Sun golf reporter Larry Bohannan takes you through the four par -3 holes of Stadium Course at PGA West

Golf fans of a certain age may remember the late great Payne Stewart had a sponsorship with the NFL and would wear shirts in the color of the various NFL teams culminating on Sunday with the color scheme that matched the NFL team closest to that week’s event.

An affiliation with a pro sports league hasn’t really happened since for a pro golfer, but one player at this week’s The American Express PGA event in La Quinta is doing it on a smaller scale.

Jake Knapp, who turned pro in 2023, has a sponsorship with the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL. Knapp wears shirts with the Ducks logo on them and the classic duck-billed hockey helmet logo is emblazoned on his golf bag.

Knapp’s affiliation with the Ducks began when he played a round with Tim Ryan, then President and CEO of the Ducks, about five years ago. The two decided after the round that they should get in business together, but this was years before Knapp was a PGA Tour pro.

“I knew Tim Ryan, who was the president of the team back in the day and we always kind of joked about it,” Knapp said. “He was a member of my home course and would hook me up with tickets every once in a while and things like that.

“And then when I got on the Korn Ferry Tour, we talked seriously about doing a deal and he said yes and I said yes and we’ve been doing it since 2020,” he said.

And this isn’t just a business deal for Knapp, it’s personal. The Orange County native is a lifelong Anaheim Ducks fan, and he uses the word “lifelong” literally.

“I grew up in Orange County, like 15 or 20 minutes away from the stadium, but also my mom’s side of the family is all Canadians who were always big hockey people, and then, you know, the team started up I think the year I was born, so a true lifelong fan,” the 30-year-old said.

That’s why Knapp’s Wednesday pro-am round a day before he tees it up in The American Express was such a special moment. One of his amateur playing partners was none other than Ducks Hall of Famer Teemu Selänne.

Selänne and three other amateurs all dressed in black Ducks golf shirts joined Knapp for 18 holes at the Stadium Course at PGA West. Selänne was playing well, laughing, smoking a cigar and handing out gifts to some of his playing partners like Brett Ensman who started the round in his normal shirt and finished it in a retro teal and purple Ducks jersey with a Selänne autograph on it.

Knapp said it was a big moment for him to play with Selänne — the team played well finishing third out of 30 teams in the pro-am — but that someone else he knows might have even loved it more.

“Of course I grew up watching him, but my brother was actually a die-hard Teemu fan and I was a big fan of Paul Kariya because he was left-handed like me and my brother was right-handed like Teemu,” Knapp said. “But being able to play with someone like him was amazing and he played well. He’s a competitor so he wanted to play better, but he played well and made a few great putts.”

Speaking of putts, the round ended Wednesday with a fun flourish thanks to the Anaheim Ducks social media team which was documenting the round. They brought out two gold hockey stick-shaped putters and Knapp and Selänne had a quick putting contest on the 18th hole.

Each player took two putts with the “Happy Gilmore” style putters from about 15 feet. Knapp went 0-for-2 and Selänne canned his second one to a roar from the group.

Who’s better with the hockey stick putter – a PGA Tour champion or a Hockey Hall-of-Famer?
 
Watch lifelong Ducks fan @knapptime_LTD battle @TeemuSel8nne to find out, and stay for an iconic celebration you might recognize.
 
Join us this weekend at the American Express in La… pic.twitter.com/q7Mj8Z3Vob

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) January 16, 2025

“Yeah, that was pretty, you know, different. You don’t get to do something like that very often,” Knapp said afterward.

Knapp now shifts to serious mode as he tries to compete for his second PGA Tour title.

Knapp, who missed the cut at the American Express in 2024, had his breakthrough moment about a month later when he won the Mexico Open, his first and only PGA win. That made him exempt for the rest of the season and he played in 23 events after having played in only five PGA events prior to 2024.

Knapp will play the first three days of the event with fellow pro T.J. Poston. They will play the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Thursday, the Stadium Course on Friday at La Quinta Country Club on Saturday.

“It’s an event that means a lot especially being close to home, so it’s nice to be able to have friends and family come out,” Knapp said. “I don’t get to play on the West Coast very often and this venue especially my dad’s parents live out here and my mom’s parents, too, so I spent a lot of time out here as a kid, so it kind of feels like a second home.”

Shad Powers is a sports columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.