New PGA Tour Star Names Luke Donald As Surprising Golf Hero

The PGA Tour's newest winner Jake Knapp is obviously a Tiger Woods fan, but the unlikely name of Luke Donald came up as one of the players he looked up to when he was younger.

The 29-year-old rookie is being tipped for stardom after his surprising Mexico Open win last week - which got him into The Masters and bagged him a primetime pairing with Rory McIlroy at the Cognizant Classic this week.

While he has been a McIlroy fan later in his career, in the early days along with the obvious name Tiger Woods, former World No.1 Luke Donald also cropped up.

"I was Tiger for sure and then I was actually a big Luke Donald fan, big Dustin Johnson fan, so those were kind of the three guys that I looked up to," said Knapp.

"Then obviously over the last few years, a lot of people have tried to emulate Rory and just all the things he does on and off the course."

With Knapp being a big hitter, Donald may not be the obvious golfing idol to look up to, but the Californian says he did not gain his size and his strength until later on, so the shorter-hitting Englishman was the ideal man to follow.

"Growing up I was super undersized as a kid, and I didn't grow until like my junior year in high school," Knapp explained.

"At the time he was around World No. 1 and just an insanely good short game, really good at putting, so I tried to take after his game and focus on those two things, and then as I started to hit it farther, started to transition more into the DJ category."

Knapp's all-round game certainly impressed McIlroy during their first round at PGA National, with the Northern Irishman praising him afterwards.

"Yeah, he could definitely be a star," said McIlroy. "It looks like he's got the full package."

And after getting a first-hand look at the four-time Major champion in action, Knapp enjoyed getting some pointers for the future.

"I tried to pick his brain about a few things for the next few weeks, and hopefully the rest of my career, and he was really generous on giving very thoughtful answers," Knapp said of McIlroy.

"I don't think he necessarily hit it his best today in terms of what he expected. He didn't hit a great shot into No. 1 and a couple others, but his short game is obviously great. You don't get to be one of the best players in the world without a well-rounded game.

"Obviously he's a great driver of the golf ball. He rolls it well. He does everything very, very good and just keeps it all really tight."