Well, it’s that time of the year again when the days shorten to the length of a dispirited sigh, the sun unplugs itself for a few weeks and twisted, mangled umbrellas litter the streets like the grim aftermath of a riot at a Mary Poppins convention.

So what do we do amid all this meteorological misery? That’s right, we spend unnecessary sums of money because, well, we are force fed commercial, aspirational clap-trap on a minute-by minute basis from those whose job it is to make us spend unnecessary sums of money. If, for instance, debonair Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville was shown in a TV advert hosting an elaborate Hallowe’en hootenanny while his guests go dookin’ for Faberge Eggs, then we, the wide-eyed Great British public, would go kicking down the doors of the nearest fancy dress shop before you could say ‘give me that 450 quid Liberace-style gown’. Meanwhile, anything less than a lavish Guy Fawkes night in your back garden that has the kind of point-and-gawp fireworks display usually reserved for the closing ceremony of a major sporting event will have you laughed out of town. And as for Christmas? Perish the thought.

Just about the only thing we’re not spending money on is golf. Now wonder. Have you looked out of the window?

When Russell Knox won on the second-tier of the US professional scene some four years ago, the Inverness exile was adamant about one thing; the weather. "I really can't see how anyone stays in Scotland to pursue a career," he said in an email exchange with this correspondent. "You can work on your game all year round here. That's the only way you can improve in my opinion."

The American dream continues to reap sizeable rewards. The 30-year-old’s colossal win in the WGC HSBC Champions on Sunday vaulted him into the rarefied air of the world’s elite. Knox’s progress in recent years may have been understated and underestimated but having made a huge breakthrough he certainly shouldn’t be overwhelmed by it all.

After his opening round during his ultimately successful WGC debut in China, Knox’s response to a question on the radio about the glittering company he was keeping summed up the quiet sense of increasing self-assurance that has been one of his strongest attributes during this rise to prominence. “This is my first WGC but it’s not my first event playing with the big boys,” he said. “I’m not shocked I’m playing well.”

Here in Scotland, we deal with a fairly small pool of players and performers, across a variety of sports. Being tipped as the nation’s ‘next big thing’ – a fairly onerous tag but that’s the knee jerk media for you – adds its own burdens and pressures. Of course, those who harbour lofty aspirations know that this comes with the territory but in the confines of the Scottish scene, the scrutiny and the expectations can almost become stifling. Knox will be the first to admit that he was never touted and championed at an amateur level. He was fortunate that he had US connections – his father is an American – and a move across the Atlantic to US college was probably easier for him to deal with and adapt to. Back in Caledonia, meanwhile, you often read about football players who swapped Bellshill for Bolton in an attempt to further their career only to return whimpering and wailing within a few months because 'ah missed me pals’. Hardly intrepid, ambitious adventurers eh? Knox has thrived with that positive, ‘can do’ approach, one that is often in stark contrast to some of our home-based hopefuls who can occasionally deliver the kind of hang dog, pessimistic assessments you’d tend to find in this scribbler’s annual appraisal.

Like Martin Laird before him, Knox has developed largely under the radar and his increasing accomplishments have not been accompanied by a regular, rabid fanfare.

Knox is a Scotsman through and through but he is very much a product of an American golfing education. What he does next will be interesting. The PGA Tour is his platform and his life, both professionally and personally, is in the US. He is not a member of the European Tour just yet and, as a result, he has not accumulated any qualifying points for next year’s Ryder Cup. He’s clearly looking forward to “giving it (qualifying) a run” and that would indicate that he will sign up in the new year. Having soared well inside the world’s top 50, Knox can just about pick and choose where and what he plays in. Ahead of the 2012 Ryder Cup, Knox’s countryman Laird took out an affiliate membership with the European Tour but he didn’t really make any inroads on the qualifying race and his appearances on this side of pond were fleeting. Straddling two tours, as many have found, has its problems … but it’s a nice problem to have. Knox doesn’t need us lot to tell him that, of course. He’s been getting on just fine on his own.