Russell Knox revealed he’s been warming-up for his defence of this weeks’ WGC – HJSBC Champions event by immersing his body in baths of temperatures up to minus 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
Knox’s wife, Andrea recently opened a Cryotherapy practice in their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida and Scotland’s top-ranked golfer is her star client.
Scotland’s top-ranked Russell Knox has been using Cryotherapy for some time.
Cryotherapy is the practice of using cold temperatures to promote natural healing and wellness that dates back to ancient civilizations. Whole body cryotherapy is the modern experience which stimulates the same rejuvenating and refreshing benefits at a whole new level of cold — in just three minutes.
Reaching temperatures as low as -120 Celsius (-184ºF), whole body cryotherapy is a fast and effective alternative to traditional ice baths.
Knox has been warmly promoting the ice-cold practice with pictures on his Twitter account showing him immersed up to his neck in a large water-tank like bath.
Knox’s wife and her sister opened the business on August 20th and the same weekend as the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship, and it’s for this reason Knox decision not to tee-up in North Carolina raised plenty of eyebrows by not contesting what was his last European Ryder Cup qualifying event.
“My wife and her sister opened a cryotherapy practice in Jackonsville and I’ll do cryotherapy every day I’m at home,” said Knox.
“And I’m forced into it (smiling).
“Seriously, it’s excellent as it makes me feel great. My body feels great. So hopefully it’s also helping my golf game.
“You can set it to as low as minus 246 Fahrenheit but you only stay in for three minutes, and wearing gloves and boots and your underwear, and with you head sticking out.”
Unlike last year, Knox along with his wife and long-time caddy, Bradley Whittle have made their way to Shanghai for the $US 9.5m (£7.785m) event without incident or concern.
The Scot was last into last year’s field but didn’t have a Chinese visa and fortunately as he was competing in Malaysia his wife managed to get the couple sorted to leave Kuala Lumpur late on the Monday.
However, Whittle could not show evidence of accommodation in Malaysia and he didn’t arrive to late Wednesday and it meant Knox’s wife caddying for her husband during nine holes of practice on the Tuesday.
Knox then denied overwhelming final day favourite, Dustin Johnson to capture the £(STG) 1.2m first prize cheque and with Johnson later remarking: “Russell just smoked me!”
Now twelve months on, Knox is defending the first of two titles he captured in the 2015/16 PGA Tour season but also sadly as the only Scot, and at No. 20, ranked inside the top-100 on World Rankings.
“My bank balance was the first thing that changed in winning last year,” he said.
“Schedule-wise? Victory last year gave me the oppportunity to play in all these WGC events and the majors.
“But overall not much has changed. I mean, I smile maybe a little bit bigger. Life was great before I won this tournament and it’s still just as great. So, to be honest, not much has changed.”
However, if Knox were to retain the title this week he would become the first player since Tiger Woods in 2006 to successfully defend a WGC title.
“It would be unbelievable to be in the same conversation as Tiger Woods for winning back-to-back,” he said.
“But no, I expect to come here and play well, but I mean, obviously winning is extremely difficult, especially calibre of field that is here this week. I’m just going to try and enjoy myself.
“This is my first professional title defence, so I’m really going to try so soak it all in and do my best and see what happens. But by no means, am I going to put extra pressure on myself to try and do it again.”
All four Major winners of the year will tee-up in Shanghai along with four-time Major winning Rory McIlroy returning to competition for a first time since the Ryder Cup.
It is also McIlroy’s first ‘paying’ event since earning a whopping $US 11.5m (£9.415m) in capturing the Tour Championship and the $US 10m (£8.12m) bonus prize,
And the current World No. 3 was asked if the PGA Tour had paid the amount into his bank account.
“I knew the amount was there when JP, my caddie gave me a text and said thanks, and I think his words were, “A tsunami just hit my bank account, so thank you very much,” said McIlroy.
“JP got a nice percentage of that, so I knew at that point it was already there.”
