Top-ranked Scot Russell Knox confessed before tee-off he felt much akin to a 15-handicapper in tackling the famed Old Course at St. Andrews ahead of his maiden appearance in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Knox then went out to make a mockery of that assertion in snatching eight birdies in a very impressive six-under par 66 and tied with Kinross’s Calum Hill, who eagled his last at Kingsbarns Links on day one of the event being again staged over three courses in the east of Scotland.
If left the current World No. 86 ranked Knox trailing just three shots adrift of South African Justin Thomas who had teed-off from the 10th hole on the Old Course.
Edinburgh-based Richie Ramsay heads the strong field of 11 Scots and continuing to indirectly benefit from Sergio Garcia’s decision not to contest last week’s BMW PGA Championship in shooting a flawless seven-under par 65 at Kingsbarns Links.
Ramsay had been first reserve into Wentworth but found himself in the field when Garcia withdrew in capturing the KLM Open and handing Ramsay a tee-time ahead of the Scot proceeding to share sixth place, and then by finishing top-10 last Sunday, he qualified for this week’s Dunhill Links.
AND @rooknox @CRYOtherapyJAX @vineyardvines indicated ahead of @dunhilllinks he was not a fan of the Old Course @TheOpen 👏😃
Well, what a super start with the proud 🏴 grabbing 8 x🐦 in his round of 6⃣6⃣👏👍 pic.twitter.com/49pfNKNlYe
— Fatiha Betscher (@TOURMISS) September 26, 2019
“I’m just feeding off last week at Wentworth and to birdie the closing two holes today was a real bonus,” said Ramsay.
“The big thing for me is keeping my energy levels up as this is my seventh week in a row. My confidence was high after last week’s effort and I went out there and played just really steady.
“You always look at it and think, if I want to win one tournament, The Scottish Open, the Dunhill are the two that are right there because I used come here when I was seven or eight and watch the guys play in the Dunhill Cup. It’s cool for me to play in it and just proud that I shot a good number today.”
Knox also is yet to win in eight prior pro tournaments on ‘home’ soil and with the help also of a new set of Srixon irons he set about that task with zest.
“Well, I’ve now gone from a 15-hanicapper to a 14-handicapper,” he said laughing.
“No, it was good and it is definitely getting better. I holed a nice birdie putt from 20 feet at the first and that was nice way to start.
“I played the front-nine very well and kept it going on the back though I had bogeys at 16 and 17 that was a bit disappointing but then to see the birdie putt go in at the last was a great finish and with six-under is a strong start.”
Knox’s second shot at the penultimate ‘Road Hole’ at the Old Course indeed landed on the road immediately behind the green and while he managed to get-up-and-down for a bogey ‘5’, he left the bottom of his wedge looking somewhat worst for wear after also scuffing the club with a few practice swings ahead of his shot.
“I can’t remember the last time I would have played a shot off a roadway in a tournament but that was a good one and I don’t want it back,” he said.
“Though the brand-new 60-degress wedge is now all scuffed.”
Knox’s best finish in his prior Scottish soil events, and that includes the 2015 and 2017 Open Championship and seven Scottish Open’s, was a T10th result in the 2015 Scottish Open at Gullane.
And his 24 prior rounds in Scotland, Knox’s best is a pair of 66s, the first in the 2015 Scottish Open and a 66 also at Gullane in 2018.
“This round today is right up there with my best rounds in Scotland,” said Knox.
“This was an important round for me. I’ve been desperate to get some momentum going. I need to do a little better. Coming here, I know that St Andrews is always scoreable in this format and I knew that the conditions were decent and the pins were going to be relatively easy.
“I knew that I needed to go out and play a good round for my confidence going forward. I definitely saw enough to be confident going forward, so I am happy with that.”
Oban lefty Bob McIntyre capped his Carnoustie round with not one but two eagles, including holing his second shot from the fairway at the par-4 seventh hole and the 16th of his round.
Though McIntyre both shots straight back with a double at the next in a score of 70.
Rory McIlroy was also in trouble at Carnoustie sending his tee shot at the famed ‘Hogan’s Alley’ sixth hole ‘OB’ on route to a score of 70
And Lee Westwood was celebrating at Carnoustie when he aced Carnoustie’s short par-3 eighth hole he was tackling as his 17th.
