Scotland’s top world ranked Russell Knox intends drawing on golf’s 15th club when it comes to teeing-up in next month’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart.

Last month, Knox went within a whisker of denying Rory McIlroy the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open trophy.

Indeed, McIlroy drew on the overwhelming home crowd support he enjoyed over the four rounds to pull off two of the greatest shots in his career and deny Knox the gleaming Irish Open trophy,

Now Knox will be looking to draw on golf’s ’15th club’ in his own home town of Inverness when the championship gets under way on July 7th.

“The Irish crowd were obviously pulling for Rory, but they were also very respectful of me,” said Knox in a telephone conference with Knox for the media on hand at Castle Stuart for an Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open media outing.

The gleaming Scottish Open trophy. (Photo – Kenny Smith @kennysmithphoto)

“So they weren’t rooting against me, which was nice. If I can get the same level of support at Castle Stuart that Rory had at the K Club, then I’ll love that. The Scottish crowd will be rooting for all the home players, but hopefully they’ll be cheering for me just that bit harder! I had lots of friends and family rooting for me at the Players Championship, because I live in Ponte Vedra, and hopefully that’ll be the case again at Castle Stuart.”

Knox had gone so close to victory a year ago at Gullane but then he returns the every this year as the reigning WGC – HSBC Champions titleholder and looking to get him name on the gleaming trophy.

“If I was to win the Scottish Open there, it’d be the biggest win of my career,” he said.

“Of course, winning the WGC in China was massive for my career, but every golfer in the world wants to win their home Open, and with it being held in my home town of Inverness this year, it would be a dream come true. Just to play in it is going to be amazing, but getting to lift the trophy would be a huge bonus.

“And I know there is going to be a lot of expectations on my shoulder when I tee up at Castle Stuart.

“Golf is a pressure sport, whoever copes best with the pressure is normally the guy who wins. It’s not always a comfortable feeling, but it’s not meant to be because professional golf is hard.

“So I’ll be under a bit of pressure, but contending to win tournaments and coping with the pressure that comes with it is why you play the game. I feel like I play better on the bigger stages, I loved playing with Danny (Willett) and Rory (McIlroy) in the last group in Ireland for example.”