St. Louis, Missouri ….
Russell Knox was left lamenting a penultimate double-bogey that pulled the carpet from under a possible top-20 PGA Championship finish in St. Louis.
The lone Scot in the year’s final major was lying just outside the leading 20 standing on the 17th tee when his drive clipped a tree branch and dropping stone-dead and less than 100-yards off the tee.
Knox and his caddy could not believe their misfortune and after having managed back-to-back birdies from 27-feet at the 15th and 40-feet at the par-3 16th.
Scotland’s Russell Knox left lamenting an unfortunate double bogey at his 7st hole. (Photo @tourmiss)
Earlier, Knox had kick-started his final round with back-to-back birdies at two and three.
After the mishap off the tee at 17, Knox got within 13-feet standing over his sixth or bogey putt only for the ball to lip-out in taking a double-bogey ‘7’.
Then at the last, Knox found a greenside bunker some 65-feet short of the flag before brilliantly splashing-out to three-feet to save par.
He said: “There is branches that overhand off the 17th tee and they’re not really in play but then I teed-up on the left-side of the tee only because there is a bit of mound on the right-side of the tee.
“I guess I just necked-it a bit and it came out left and for the ball to do what it did was pretty unfortunate as it could have quite easy gone through the branches but I hit worse drive than that today on the front nine and made par, so it was unfortunate.
“I had made some great swings well before the 17th and having birdied both 15 and 16, and then for that to happen was sad as I also lipped-out in putting for bogey.
“I was staring at a 3, 2, 4, 3 finish with four birdies and probably finishing top-20 which would have been a great reward.”
Knox had began on day one with three straight bogeys in a one-over par 71 before regrouping with three sub-70 scores of 68, 69 and 68 for a four-under tally.
It is Knox’s second best result in the PGA Championship having ended T22nd in 2016 and missing the cut in his three other PGA showings.
The reigning Irish Open winner, who has competed eight of the past nine weeks, will take a much-needed break this coming week before teeing-up in the August 23rd starting Northern Trust in New Jersey and the first of the FedEx Cup Play-Off Series.
