Knox Dealt A 68 In His Las Vegas New PGA Tour Season Opener.

Top-ranked Scot Russell Knox kick-started his new PGA Tour season with four birdies in a 68 on the opening day of the Shriners Hospital for Children Open in Las Vegas.

Knox headed to a well-earned lunch trailing just three shots behind Canadian Nick Taylor who was in the clubhouse thanks to an eight-under par 63 while the American-born trio of Phil Mickelson, Brian Gay and Sam Ryder posted six-under par 65s on the TPC Summerlin course

Knox produced a flawless opening 13 holes in holing a 21-footer for his first birdie of the 2019/20 season at the par-4 second hole before getting up-and-down from a greenside bunker for a birdie at the par-5 ninth hole.

The Scot then moved inside the top-10 in the £5.67m event in hitting a booming 306-yard drive at the par-5 13th and two-putting for birdie from just over 70-feet.

Scotland’s Russell Knox commences his first round of the 2019/20 PGA Tour season with a three-under par 68 at TPC Summerlin

He dropped a shot in being 25-yards long at the par-4 14th but then brilliantly made amends in finding the green with a 291-yard effort at the short par-4 15th to get back to three under.

Knox then parred his last three holes.

His first round was a best first round since his opening 65 on route to a third place finish in the 2014 event.

AND World No. 1 Brooks Koepka has responded to being clearly snubbed by his fellow PGA Tour peers after Rory McIlroy was voted  ‘2019 PGA Tour Player of the Year’.

McIlroy’s choice for the award following the close of the 2018/19 PGA Tour season in August came as somewhat as a surprise but then the No. 1 vote for the Northern Irishman also reflected just how popular he is on the PGA Tour, and this despite Koepka winning this year’s PGA Championship.

This is very much in stark contrast to the ‘stone cold’ demeanour Koepka exhibits, and this attribute was no more evident when the American was quizzed on being overlooked for the ‘award’ ahead of teeing-up in this week’s Shriners Hospital for Children Open in Las Vegas, and with the $7m event Koepka’s first on the 2019/20 PGA Tour schedule.

Koepka said:  “I don’t play for awards, I play to win. To win trophies, to win tournaments.

“Yeah, it would have been great, but I think everyone in the room knows LeBron James has only won four MVPs and I’m pretty sure he’s been the best player for more than four years.”

Koepka began his new PGA Tour season with a one-under 70.



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