KELOWNA, British Columbia - It was on this course three years ago this week that Jake Knapp got his first real taste of professional golf. The wide-eyed UCLA product had earned his way into the GolfBC Championship by way of that Monday’s open qualifier and finished with a promising T45 showing.

Knapp hopes to celebrate his anniversary here later this weekend with a win, and he took the first steps toward that goal on Thursday with an opening 7-under 64. Grant Leaver trails him by one stroke, while Drew McCullough, Patrick Fishburn and David Pastore all sit two shots back at 5 under.

“This place holds a little sentimental value to me, and my dad came up and caddied for me that event, too,” Knapp said. “It’s just a great event and it’s one of my favorite venues to come to. It’s one of the most scenic golf courses we play and the city is great. It’s definitely a special event for me.”

Knapp is still riding high from his comeback victory last month at the season-opening Canada Life Open, where he roared back from a five-shot deficit on Sunday to claim his first career win. He built on that momentum Thursday, when he posted a front-nine 30 to overtake Leaver atop the leaderboard.

Knapp, who started on the back, made the turn at 1-under before going birdie-eagle-birdie over his next three holes. The highlight came at the par-4 second, when he holed out his approach shot from 117 yards. He closed with birdies on three of his last four holes, including a 40-footer from the fringe at No. 7. The 25-year-old later got up-and-down from the bunker at the ninth to take the lead for good.

“It’s nice to see some of those goes in,” he said. “When you shoot 7-under you have to have one of those (long putts), or you have to have something like that hole out. Little rounds like that get you jumpstarted. It was a little bit of a slow start, so it was nice to keep carrying on and see some putts go in on the back.”

His strong finish was enough to overcome Leaver, who connected on a 20-foot birdie putt at the 18th to temporarily pull into the lead. The 33-year-old used a solid putting performance to piece together his best round in more than a year, as he rolled in multiple birdies from 12- to 15-feet.

“I was converting, I was scoring,” Leaver said. “I had two good saves down the stretch when I needed it. It kind of fell together. I definitely hit my share of bad shots out there, but it never really hurt me. I chipped out a few times and made bogeys but minimized it.”