Russell Knox believes he’s put European Ryder Cup skipper Darren Clarke in a difficult position after the Inverness exile notched his second PGA Tour win of the season.
The 31-year-old held his nerve superbly and holed a 12-foot putt for par on the 72nd hole to win the Traveler’s Championship by a single stroke on Sunday night.
Knox, who made his breakthrough on the world stage in last November’s WGC HSBC Champions, has now given his hopes of earning a spot in Europe’s Ryder Cup team a significant boost.
The Florida-based Scot is one place shy of the ninth and last automatic qualifying place with just a couple of counting events remaining before the cut off but his second win of the PGA circuit’s wraparound campaign has strengthened his claim for a wild card pick.
Knox said: “I knew by winning this tournament, it’s put Darren Clarke in a very difficult position not to pick me. But it’s his decision. If I don’t make the team, I can’t think I’m worthy of a pick. He can pick whoever he wants, and that’s the luxury of it. If I make the top nine, then I deserve to be on the team. If I’m No 10, he can quite happily pass on me, and that’s just the way it is.”
Knox started the final round three shots behind playing partner Daniel Berger before finding himself with a two-shot advantage following back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th.
He dropped a shot at the 16th before finding a greenside bunker with his approach at the last but managed to get up and down, before tossing his cap across the green in jubilant abandon. “It’s amazing,” he added. “To make that putt, I mean, it’s just the greatest feeling ever. I think it’s big to win for a second time. Now I can start believing in myself even more.
“I made it a big deal. I finished second three times since I’ve won and I really wanted to get another one so I could really show myself that I can win multiple times. And to do it in one season is pretty amazing. I felt like the Incredible Hulk when the putt went in. I could have ripped my shirt off.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here