Scotland’s Russell Knox now faces a Texas shoot-out with in-form Branden Grace if the Scot is to progress to the quarter finals of the WGC – Dell Match-Play in Austin, Texas.
Knox was struggling early on in his second round encounter against American Chris Kirk falling 2 down through six holes before claiming a hard-fought 2 & 1 win in bright but very windy conditions on the Austin Country Club course.
Knox heads his group with 1 ½ points from his two matches and with Grace, recent back-to-back Qatar Masters winner, earning his first point in defeating Swede David Lingmerth 4 & 3.
Kirk, who has one point, will play Lingmerth and will need to defeat to the current Memorial champion and then have Knox lose his match, It would then mean a play-off between he and Grace to see who goes through to the Saturday quarter-finals.
But put simply, a win by Knox over Grace would ensure the reigning WGC – HSBC Champion goes through to the knock-out stages of the $US 9.5m event.
Knox and Grace both register wins in Group 11, with the Scotsman topping the group: https://t.co/tZiouEYVpU pic.twitter.com/KXAepK9WXL
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) March 24, 2016
“I now control my own destiny here in Austin because if I can beat Branden I go through to the quarters,” said Knox.
“It’s going to be a brutal day as Branden is the highest seed in our group and on paper he’s the best player so it will be a tough match.
“And whoever makes it through the groups will have earned their places in the quarter-finals.
“The good thing, and like everyone else here this week, we are getting more used to the golf course and with the wind today it was like we were learning a new course but we’ve now seen in varying conditions, so everyone should be a lot more comfortable out there.”
The four-time PGA Tour winning Kirk won the first hole with a birdie and went 2up with a birdie at the fourth before letting Knox back into the match with bogeys at the seventh and ninth holes.
However it was Knox’s chip-in for par at the eighth to halve the hole that he later singled out as the turning point.
Knox went ahead for a first time when Kirk conceded the 10th and went 2up when he drilled a 6-iron to 10-feet for birdie at the par three, 11th hole, and with Kirk’s shot 100 feet right of the pin.
Knox lost the 13th with a bogey to be back to 1up but then sealed the match in two-putting from 34-foot from the back of the green for a winning birdie and his eventual 2 & 1 triumph.
“I was 1 down on the eighth tee and looking like losing the hole when I had that 50-foot chip-in to save par, and that was the turning point of the match.
“It meant not going 2 down and from there I got back to all square at the next, and then I won the 10th, won the 11th and the rest is history.
“I didn’t play great and I also gave him a few holes, and while he got off to a nice start, unfortunately for him he didn’t play too well after that.
“But then the conditions out there were tough and to be honest I didn’t feel as good as I needed to feel in the conditions as I wasn’t hitting it great but still managing to get it around.
“I knew I needed to win because if I lost I was out.”
