For many golfing aficionados, the date April 13 1997 remains seared on the mind and has made the kind of sizzling imprint you’d get with a red-hot branding iron.
It was the day Tiger Woods’s wrecking ball put the finishing touches to his demolition job of Augusta with an 18-under aggregate as he romped to a 12 stroke victory in the Masters to claim the first of his 14 major titles.
Back in Inverness, meanwhile, Russell Knox was glued to the television in wide-eyed wonderment. He wouldn’t have been the only one. “I had watched TV coverage of the Masters before 1997 but that win, for anyone who is around my age in that generation, just prompted me to play golf,” reflected Knox, who will make his debut in the opening men’s major of the 2016 campaign this coming week. “Seeing Tiger win in the manner he did just made me want to practice and work so much harder on my own game.
“He was my idol. I actually had a big poster hanging on my bedroom wall of Tiger winning at Augusta in ’97 and all the records he broke that year were written on it. So every time I would go to bed there was this poster of Tiger staring at me. And it stayed up on my bedroom wall until we left Scotland.”
Since departing these shores, of course, Florida-based Knox has developed into Scotland’s leading campaigner on the global stage. His breakthrough victory in the WGC HSBC Champions event at the end of 2015 was the ultimate reward for his dedication, his work-rate, his belief and his considerable talent. The rewards keep coming and receiving a neatly folded piece of paper through the post with an official Masters letterhead is the golfing equivalent of getting a note back from Santa saying ‘no bother son, you can have everything you’ve asked for’.
“My manager brought the invitation to me when he came down for a visit and that was a really cool moment when I opened it to see the Masters logo on the top of the letter,” added the world No 34. “I will end up getting it framed.”
Knox would love to be in the frame come Masters Sunday but history is certainly not on the Scotsman’s side. Only three debutants have ever mastered Augusta’s various rigours and nuances and won the Green Jacket at the first time of asking. You’ve got to be in it to win it, though.
"I have to go to Augusta believing, ‘hey, why not me?’,” added the PGA Tour campaigner. “I have beaten all these guys before. I can do it. People say it takes playing a few times at Augusta to get to know the course properly, and I don’t disagree with that, but then if you hit good shots, you hit good shots. I will not be going to Augusta with the goal of just making the cut as I have set the bar higher than that even though I have only played in four Majors, and I’ve made the cut in just one. Of course, making the cut would ensure a nice little pay cheque but with the HSBC win behind me, I just feel I am getting better and stronger with every tournament I contest. It will not be just about showing up at Augusta to make the cut because I am better than that.”
Knox made a quiet pilgrimage to Augusta in February for an early reconnaissance mission. He will up the ante as far as practising goes when he arrives this week and will make a point of seeking out his compatriot, Sandy Lyle, and probe the 1988 Masters champion for pearls of wisdom.
“I went over to the bunker he played that famous shot out off when I was there and was amazed by what he had achieved from there,” said Knox of Lyle’s famous 7-iron clatter from the sand on the 18th fairway. “I’m hoping I get to play a practice round with Sandy when I get to Augusta. In fact, I’m going to harass him to make sure we do.
“Everyone has been saying to me ‘don’t over practice and try not to over prepare and treat the Masters like it is another tournament’. But that’s going to be difficult given it will be my first Masters.
“This is another step in my career. It’s on track and I am a big believer in not rushing just yet. You are ready when you are ready. Of course, I would have loved to be playing in the Masters five years ago but if it takes me five more years to feel comfortable to maybe win one Masters then so be it. You never know. I may play great next week.”
Masters champions tend to do that.
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