Like so many others from the greater New York Metropolitan area, John Pak, a PGA Tour rookie playing the Charles Schwab Challenge this week, could only focus on his beloved Knicks on Wednesday night.He tuned in to watch the Knicks host the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, which marked New York's first appearance in the Conference Finals in 25 years.After leading for most of the second half, the Knicks looked destined to open up the series with a 1-to-0 advantage over the Pacers. But then Indiana caught fire, the Knicks made mistakes, and ultimately, New York blew a 14-point lead with less than three minutes to go and lost to the Pacers in overtime, 138-135."I didn't sleep well after that loss last night," Pak said Thursday."That was historically one of the worst losses I've ever seen in my life."With an early tee time, Pak did not have much time to dwell on the Knicks and their historic collapse. Instead, he decided to use it as fuel."There was a fire lit under me this morning," Pak added."I was a little pissed off about that."His opening round started with a 'Bang!' — at least that's what the great Mike Breen, the New York Knicks play-by-play announcer, would have said after seeing Pak's second shot on the par-4 10th, his first hole of the day.The New Jersey native dunked in a 9-iron from 142 yards out for an opening two. Pak said that he had never started a round, whether it be in competition, practice, or playing with friends, with a hole out eagle."It was just like a perfect 9-iron. The wind was off the left, and I just tried to hit a 145 shot. I actually pushed it a little bit because I was aiming left of it, and it kind of just trickled in," Pak said."We didn't really see it, but saw a couple of guys behind the green throw their hands in the air. It was kind of nice to see that fall in."He played a solid round of golf from there, a round that included five birdies and zero bogies. Pak signed for a 7-under 63 and even finished his round with a par-breaker on the par-4 9th, thus doing what the Knicks failed to do the night before: finish on a high-note."I hit the ball well. I judged it really well when I did miss the fairway and kind of just made sure to leave myself in the right spots," Pak said of his round."The putting was the best I've had all year. So, yeah, I'm pretty happy about it."Perhaps this opening round fuels Pak to do something even greater. After all, he needs to post better results soon. His best finish of the season came at the Mexico Open in February, when he tied for 17th. Since then, Pak has played in eight events, missed three cuts, and finished no better than a T-52. The former Florida State Seminole is currently 158th in the FedEx Cup standings, and given the restraints on PGA Tour membership in 2026, he needs to make a move up the rankings.Only the top 100 finishers in the final FedEx Cup standings receive full status for next year on the PGA Tour, not 125 like in year's past. That impacts many young players like Pak, who are grinding, just trying to survive on tour.But at least he has put himself in a position to contend this week at Colonial as his 63 on Thursday marked his lowest round of his PGA Tour career to date. His Knicks, meanwhile, face much more dire circumstances.More Golf: Rory McIlroy Follows Bryson DeCambeau's Footsteps Making History