Michael Phelps reacts as Jake Knapp posts historic 59 at Cognizant Classic

Michael Phelps reacted as American golfer Jake Knapp etched his name into record books with a splendid performance in the opening round of the 2025 Cognizant Classic. The 23-time Olympic champion is a big fan of Knapp as well as golf and has regularly played the sport since retirement.

Knapp shot a 12-under, bogey-free 59 in the first round on Thursday, becoming the only 15th player in PGA history to do so. He also joined an elite company of Scottie Scheffler, Jim Furyk, Paul Goydos, and Hayden Springer as the only players to have gone 12-under in one round.

Phelps was delighted for the 30-year-old golfer and congratulated him on his Instagram story.

"I see you knapper! LFG."

Michael Phelps' Instagram story

Phelps is often seen playing golf, especially at charity and exhibition events, and has a golfing handicap of around 7. Earlier this month, the 39-year-old competed in the WM Phoenix Open Pro-Am but experienced the first-tee nerves.

"Bro my hands are shaking," Phelps said. "Get me off the first tee. Good god. That was awful."

Phelps was paired with Justin Thomas and YouTube star Grant Horvat, and they finished T6 with a score of -15.

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Michael Phelps credits Hank Haney for teaching him golf

Michael Phelps at the WM Phoenix Open 2025- Source: Getty

Speaking in an interview with Golf.com, Michael Phelps stated that he was taught the sport of golf by American instructor Hank Haney, and he broke his 90 for the first time with him.

"When I first picked up a club with Hank Haney when I was on “The Haney Project” on Golf Channel — I was there for six months — honestly, he really taught me the game. We broke 90 for the first time. I was not very good. Hit it a mile, but never know which way it went," he said

Phelps shared that he started playing golf after his initial retirement following the 2012 London Olympics. However, he took a break and then decided to comeback at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"In 2012, when I first retired, I played for about two years. Probably got down to like a 14. And then I retired from the game again to come back and make one more run at the Olympics, and then probably stayed at a 14 for a while. And then the big change really probably happened over the last two years. I think I carded 80 rounds last year," Michael Phelps added.

The 39-year-old is widely regarded as the greatest Olympian in history and is the most decorated, with 28 medals, including 23 golds. He also broke an astonishing 39 world records during his swimming career, but all his individual records have been broken since.