(Photo credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images)

Jake Knapp is seeing himself everywhere. The airport. The hotel. Obviously, the golf course.

Knapp's image is plastered everywhere at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld in Vallarta, Mexico, where he will begin the defense of his first PGA Tour title Thursday.

'Usually you know who won the year before at most of the tournaments you go to because you'll see something, a banner or something like that, but out here it just seems to be everywhere,' Knapp said. 'It's a bit interesting to see my face blown up in that size just all over the place. But it's awesome. The amount of love and support I've gotten from just everybody this week has been pretty amazing.'

Knapp, 30, was one of the feel-good stories of the 2024 season. He spent time working as a nightclub bouncer in his hometown of Costa Mesa, Calif., in 2021 after losing status on the Korn Ferry Tour. He played his way back, earned his PGA Tour card for 2024 and won the Mexico Open by two shots over Finland's Sami Valimaki.

'I go back and watch it all the time,' Knapp said, 'not as much to like relive the moment, but more so to better understand how I went about playing the course, maybe what my swing looked like during certain shots or things like that.'

Now Knapp, ranked No. 97 in the world, is one of the main attractions at a tweener sort of tournament that bridges the tour's West Coast and Florida swings.

The highest-ranked players in the field are Englishman Aaron Rai and Akshay Bhatia at Nos. 29 and 30, respectively. Bhatia was in the final group on Sunday here in 2023 before settling for a fourth-place finish.

The two-time PGA Tour winner is also coming off a T9 at the Genesis Invitational.

'It's obviously a long golf course,' Bhatia said of the par-71, 7,436-yard VidantaWorld. 'Most people that come here are long hitters and I feel like past champions have been longer hitters. But I feel like for me, I'm average off the tee but I feel like my ball-striking when it's really good, it can perform on this golf course and that's why I really like it.'

With the relatively weak field, might this be a week for another unknown like Knapp to rise up or a youngster to find the spotlight?

Amateur Luke Clanton is in the field again this week, still one point away from earning full-time status via the PGA Tour University accelerated pathway. The Florida State senior will get that 20th and final point if he makes the 36-hole cut.

Another amateur, Spain's Jose Luis Ballester, is also playing on a sponsor exemption and making his third PGA Tour start.

'I feel like I'm more home than somewhere else,' Ballester said of competing in Mexico. '... It's kind of a bomber's course, so that benefits me. I'm a long hitter, so if I'm able to hit it solid off the tee, I think I have a good advantage compared to maybe other players.'

Just five Mexican players are in the field, including 2024 Latin America Amateur champion Santiago de la Fuente and 2024 Mexico National Amateur champ Gerardo Gomez.

--Field Level Media