Russell Knox’s breath-taking Travelers Championship victory has made Ryder Cup amends for his WGC – HSBC Champions victory disappointment.
The Scot celebrated a second PGA Tour triumph in this year’s 2015/15 wraparound schedule courtesy of holing a dramatic 12-foot putt for par at the 72nd hole to win by a shot with a 14-under par tally on the TPC Riverlands course in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Knox went into the final round trailing by three shots but after back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 he found himself leading by two.
However he bogeyed 16 to drop back to leading by one and while he pared the 17th, the Scot put his tee shot down the 72nd hole into the right rough from where he found a green side bunker.
Russell Know wins 2016 Travelers in dramatic manner to reignite Ryder Cup dream
But while he had bogeyed the hole from the same bunker for two of three days, Knox splashed out to 12-feet and after much deliberation he rolled in the best par putt of his career to seal success and collect a $US 1,188,000 first prize cheque.
“Yeah, it’s amazing. I mean, golf is so difficult, you lose every week pretty much, and to make that putt, I mean, it’s just the greatest feeling ever. I wish I could share it with you,” he said.
“And now being a two-time PGA Tour winner is big. I’m not saying everyone can win a tournament. I mean, it’s — four days, you can finish first. You can get hot. But if you do it again, then it’s like, okay, well now I can start believing in myself even more and be like, okay, I’ve beaten everyone over four days two times now”.
“I think it was big for me. I made it a big deal. I finished second three times since I’ve won, and I mean, I really wanted to get another one so I could really show myself that I can win multiple times. And to do it in one season is pretty amazing.
“And yeah, I’m a bigger beast now for making that putt. I don’t know where that came from. It just came out.
“I’ve joked with a few people that I’m a beast, and I think it’s because I’m the opposite of a beast, to be honest.”
But no, maybe I am a beast, maybe because it worked. If I keep saying it, maybe I’ll win more. Yeah, I’m not really sure where that came from.
And while his Shanghai victory last November didn’t count towards European Ryder Cup selection as Knox had not joined the European Tour beforehand this victory in Connecticut did do much so Knox jumped 10 spots on the ‘World’ points list.
It means Knox is just 3.79 points behind the struggling Matt Fitzpatrick who currently holds the fifth and last automatic qualifying Hazeltine spot from the ‘World’ points table.
With two qualifying events remaining – next fortnight’s Wyndham Championship and the following week’s Barclays Championship, and the first on the FedEx Cup Play-Off Series, Knox could cement his place inside the top-five off the ‘World’ points list and thus avoid a wildcard pick that most observers he will not be afforded.
And Knox has thrown down the gauntlet to European Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke that his form is good enough for Clarke to extend a ‘wildcard’ pick to the Scot.
“I thought about the Ryder Cup on the last tee to be honest as I knew by winning this tournament, it’s put Darren Clarke in a very difficult position not to pick me,” he said..
“I think — but I mean, it’s his decision. If I don’t make the team, I can’t think I’m worthy of a pick. It’s his decision. He can pick whoever he wants, and that’s the luxury of it. If I make the top nine, then I deserve to be on the team. If I’m No. 10, he can quite happily pass on me, and that’s just the way it is.
“Yeah, I mean, if my points would have counted in Shanghai and that puts me on the team, pretty hard position for him not to pick me. If I would have made it, if I was a member. But like I said, I hope I’m on the team.
“I would love to be there. It would be a huge honor. Maybe — holing nice putts like that obviously helps”.
