Knox never trailed in Thursday’s round, but his lead was down to two shots as he was playing the 16th hole. Nelson had just made a birdie to pull within a stroke at the par-3 17th hole. 

He made a bogey at the par-4 hole that plays over a tidal creek and went to the 17th hole with only a one-shot cushion. 

With Knox looking at a birdie putt on the next-to-last hole after what he said was one of his best iron shots of the day on the 124-yard hole that played into a tricky wind, Nelson settled for a bogey at the demanding finishing hole, which featured a tough pin placement in the back section of the green. 

Knox didn’t get his putt for birdie to drop at 17, and as he walked off the green, he could be heard telling his wife, who was watching that “I guess I made all my putts the first two days.”

Still, Knox had a two-shot cushion again, coming to the last. Knox found the fairway with his tee shot on 18 and then hit his second shot from just inside 170 yards up the sloping green, and it came to rest on the back of the putting surface where the hole was located. He stopped his birdie try close to the cup but saw his par putt lip out and settled for a bogey finish. 

That’s all he needed, however, to claim the winner’s trophy. 

“I had a real feel for the greens the first couple of days,” Knox said. “I felt real comfortable with my putting stroke and made a few mid-range putts, which is really the difference in shooting a low round or a round of par or a couple over.”

He only had one birdie over the final 18 while making three bogeys and 14 pars. Knox opened the tournament with five birdies and a bogey in his first round before making five more birdies and two bogeys in his second round, which gave him a four-shot advantage over his nearest challenger, Royak, heading into closing 18. 

Knox said he hadn’t played much individual competitive golf coming into the Jones Cup and admitted to battling some nerves during play on Thursday.

“I hadn’t been in this situation for a few years,” he said. “It was a little bit of pressure, a different feel, with some butterflies and all that. 

“I fought through them and hit some quality shots. The shot on 17, I was real pleased with that one. And then, the 6-iron here on 18. I was about 167 out, but we were right dead into the wind.”  

Knox was paired with two former tournament winners in the final group on Thursday, those being Royak, who won two years ago and also in 2020 just weeks prior to the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and four-time champion Doug Hanzel who last won the event in 2021. 

Royak, another Georgia-based player from Alpharetta and the No. 2 ranked player in the AmateurGolf.com Senior Rankings coming into the week, shot even-par 70 over the last round and ended up tied for third at 3-under for the championship. He was fresh off a victory last week down in Florida at the Golfweek Pirates Classic when he prevailed in a five-hole playoff. 

Hanzel, another golfer from Savannah, Ga., and the current No.3-ranked player, carded a 71 on Thursday and finished solo eighth at 1-under for the tournament. 

Also tying for third was Montgomery, Ala., player Shaw Pritchett. He opened with a 70 in round one before back-to-back sub-par scores of 68 and 69 in the final two rounds. 

Two more past champions finished tied for sixth this year at 2-under. Those were Gene Elliott, the 2018 winner, and Jack Larkin, who won the tournament last winter. Both players went into the Jones Cup ranked eighth in the senior game. 

The round of the day belonged to Fujikura CEO David Schnider, who shot a 5-under 65 with six birdies and one bogey.

"I played well today," Schnider told AmateurGolf.com. "I struggled with my driver the first two rounds. I was playing swing instead of golf, and you can’t do this on the Seaside Course, or you will hit it out of play."

Schnider added, "Today, I was much more focused off the tee and drove it straight all day, which gave me confidence hitting into greens. I hit 17 of 18 greens. I hit 17 of 18 greens today and it was a very low stress day even when the wind picked up the last hour of the round, I was hitting solid shots the right distance which is very important on this course." 

The newly turned 55-year-old sat down for a quick nine last year with AmateurGolf.com before he played in the U.S. Senior Open. He lives in Carlsbad, Calif., where the leading manufacturer of graphite golf shafts is located. He carded rounds of 76-73-65 to finish T18.

"I putted well also, but I did leave a couple out there," Schnider said. "Was great fun to have my wife walk and watch each day."

Only the top eight finishers in the 83-player field were under par at the end of the three days of play. John D Wright from Alabama finished ninth at even-par and actually posted three straight 70 scores for the tournament. 

Two players tied for 10th at 1-over for the week. One of those was New Yorker Kevin Vandenberg, the current No. 1 in the senior ranks. Vandenberg came to the Georgia coast with wins already in 2025 at the Golfweek Senior POY Classic and the Plantation Senior. 

He opened with a 67 at Sea Island to trail by only a shot after the first round. Vandenberg shot 73 and 71 over the last two rounds and wound up six off the lead pace. 

The next big tournament on the senior circuit is the Florida Azalea Senior Amateur at Palatka Golf Club on March 7-9.