Russell Knox may not be pencilling the Ryder Cup into his diary after he failed to gain a wild card yesterday but the spurned Scot is determined to prove that European skipper Darren Clarke was wrong not to call on his services.
While Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer were, as expected, given two of the three captain’s picks at the official unveiling at Wentworth, Clarke opted for the young Belgian, Thomas Pieters, to complete his 12-man team for the tussle with the USA at Hazeltine later next month.
Knox took the disappointment with typical dignity, and passed on his best regards to Team Europe, but the 31-year-old had plenty of reason to feel somewhat aggrieved. At 20th in the world – there are only five European players higher than him on the global order – and with two wins on the PGA Tour this season, Knox had staked a sturdy claim.
The Inverness exile also sits in seventh place on the PGA circuit’s FedEx Cup standings and with three more events to contest in the end of season play-offs, Knox is determined to mount an all assault over the next three weeks and finish the campaign with a flourish in the wake of his Ryder Cup set back.
“It’s certainly motivated me for the next three weeks, that’s for sure and have to use this as a springboard to try to win the FedEx Cup,” insisted Knox. “I’ve never wanted to prove someone wrong so badly in my life. It’s not sour grapes or anything. Darren had an extremely difficult decision and all of those three guys were worthy of a pick.
“When Darren called me it was obvious within one second that is wasn’t going to be good news. It was a tough call for him to make. He obviously didn’t want to give me bad news but that was the decision he made. It was a very short phone call.”
Pieters, who finished fourth in the Olympic golf tournament, showed his worth by finishing runner-up in the Czech Masters and winning last weekend’s Made in Denmark event to sway Clarke’s mind, as well as those of his vice-captains, which include Knox’s fellow Scots, Paul Lawrie and Sam Torrance. “The discussions were long and thorough and we all came out with the agreement that Thomas merited the final pick,” said Clarke.
Knox added: “Thomas has played some incredible stuff over the last three weeks. The Ryder Cup is still a month away. It’s hard to say if someone who is playing well now will still be playing good in a month or vice versa. Thomas deserves it, 100 per cent. I feel like I deserved to be there too but those guys thought otherwise.”
Knox could still have caught the final European automatic qualifier, Matt Fitzpatrick, with a strong showing in The Wyndham Championship a couple of weeks ago but the Scot decided to miss that event in the aftermath of his second PGA Tour win of the campaign at The Travelers Championship.
"It’s going to be difficult for me to watch the Ryder Cup, but I probably will," he said. "I’ll be rooting for the team. I wish them all the best and hope they win. Of course I feel like I deserve to be there and should be playing but I’m not, so I have to respect the decision. Every year there’s a guy in my position that doesn’t get picked . It’s a story right now, but in a couple of weeks time when it all starts, I’m sure it’ll be forgotten that I’m not in the team."
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