Jake Knapp will miss a second straight opportunity at a significant payday and valuable FedEx Cup points after withdrawing from the Truist Championship due to a lingering thumb issue.
He will be replaced at Quail Hollow this week by Austin Smotherman, who had been set to compete in the opposite-field event at the Myrtle Beach Classic.
Knapp also withdrew from last week’s Cadillac Championship. Both are signature events with $20 million purses, no cuts and increased FedEx Cup points — the type of events the 31-year-old has been working hard to qualify for.
Knapp was one of the final players to qualify for last month’s Masters, where he went on to finish 11th. However, he struggled to a T74 at the RBC Heritage, another signature event, before withdrawing from two consecutive events.
He is still a career-best 36th in the Official World Golf Ranking and 14th in the FedEx Cup standings, so Knapp has provided himself some time to recover from the thumb strain. That is courtesy of a strong start to 2026 that included five consecutive finishes of T11 or better, highlighted by a T5 at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Knapp has seven top-11 finishes in nine starts this year, with his lone missed cut coming at The Players Championship. He is currently in the field for next week’s PGA Championship.
