Consolation prize
Kiwi golfer pockets $1.4 million
New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox came agonisingly close to winning his maiden European Tour title at the Irish Open, but still walked away with a handy consolation prize.
Fox lost in a dramatic playoff to Scotland’s Russell Knox who rolled in almost identical birdie putts from about 40 feet on the 72nd hole and the first playoff hole to win his second tour title yesterday.
The second-place finish qualified the 31-year-old Kiwi for the next major, the Open Championship at Carnoustie on July 19-22, and he also pocketed a career-best payday of €665,614 (NZ$1.14 million).
‘‘I heard Russ holed a big one on 18 to get in the playoff and he obviously holed a massive one in the playoff as well,’’ Fox said. ‘‘I hit two great putts on 18 and one grazed the edge and one came back at me.’’
After Knox made birdie on the 18th to set the clubhouse target at 14-under par, Fox narrowly missed a 10-foot birdie putt that would have won him the Rolex Series event at Ballyliffin Golf Club in Donegal.
They went back down the 18th hole for the playoff and Knox pitched from 120 metres to virtually the same spot on the green. His long birdie putt curled left to right and into the cup.
Fox failed to match the birdie, his putt lipping out, and Knox put his hands to his face.
‘‘I’m happy,’’ Fox said. ‘‘I hit the shots I wanted to down the stretch, I felt comfortable out there and it was close.’’
Fox acknowledged that this time of the year on the European Tour clearly suits his game as he finds a rich vein of form for the second year in a row.
‘‘I love the challenge of links golf. I love having to hit the little bump-and-runs from 70 yards like I had on 18 a couple of times,’’ he said. ‘‘I can’t tell what it is. I guess Ireland and Scotland feel a little bit like home as well. I’m happy, and it’s a bloody nice consolation to get into the Open Championship.’’
Fox said the theory all week had been to back his driver and he had responded by hitting some of the biggest distances off the tee.
He had one eagle (on the par-five fourth), two bogeys and four birdies (all on his back nine) during his closing round of four-under 68.
‘‘There’s a lot of bunkers I can carry, and thankfully driver has been working all week. I gave myself plenty of chances and had one putt been an inch either way I’d still be out there now or even with the trophy in my hands.’’
Knox, who shot a six-under 66 in his final round, was ecstatic to snatch a Rolex Series victory to add to his WGC-HSBC Champions crown from 2015 and continue his fine form after finishing in a tie for second at last week’s French Open.
‘‘Tough to describe how amazing this feels,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s why I play golf – all the practice days, all the misses, all the bad moments, all are taken care of with putts like that . . . Making two of them from almost identical positions. I mean, that’s a bit of a bonus. Unbelievable.’’
Knox started the day six shots off the lead and nailed the biggest comeback in tournament history to go one better than his second placing in this event in 2016.
The Scotsman is set to climb into the world’s top 50, having tied for second place at the French Open last week, and is fifth in the Race to Dubai. He has boosted his chances of making Europe’s Ryder Cup team for the match against the United States in France in September.
‘‘To make the Ryder Cup team, you have to win tournaments,’’ Knox said. ‘‘This is a heck of a start but I feel I have more to go.’’
Jorge Campillo (65) finished in third place, a shot further back, and defending champion Jon Rahm was in a share of fourth after a 66.
Rory McIlroy under overall. shot 71 and was two-
and will give it their best shot. Which teams will make the World Cup final?
FRANCE v BELGIUM Wednesday, 6am
AV – 3-2 France AET, BS – 3-1 Belgium, PR – 2-1 France, TS – 2-1 Belgium.
FRANCE have looked confident in their abilities since they arrived in Russia, and while they haven’t been as exciting as Belgium, that shouldn’t make you think any less of them.
When they needed to, somehow trailing Argentina early in the second half in the round of 16, they found a higher gear.
Kylian Mbappe and co will fancy having fun with Belgium’s defence. Japan scored two against them in the round of 16 only to concede a third in the last minute; how Brazil didn’t score two – or more – in their quarterfinal, we’ll never know. France should finally make their neighbours pay for their weakest link. - AV
BELGIUM are the most potent attacking force at the World Cup, which should take them a long way towards a very first World Cup final.
With an attacking force featuring Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Dries Mertens, the Belgians are fearsome in the attacking third.
They have scored 14 goals in five World Cup matches in Russia, while topping a group featuring fellow semifinalists England and knocking favourites Brazil out in the quarterfinals.
At the other end, Belgium certainly could have been tighter defensively, but they’re hardly leaking goals.
They boast one of the tournament’s best goalkeepers, and defenders playing at the world’s top clubs, meaning they’ll be ready to combat the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Greizmann.
It’s their all round quality across the pitch and a tactical edge Roberto Martinez showed against Brazil that can see the Belgians through. - BS
ENGLAND v CROATIA Thursday, 6am
AV – 2-1 Croatia, BS – 1-0 England, PR – 1-0 England, TS – 2-1 Croatia.
Though they too had to rely on a penalty shootout in order to reach the quarterfinal, momentum is now with ENGLAND after Gareth Southgate’s men backed that up with a much more comprehensive 2-0 win over Sweden.
The same can’t be said for Croatia, who needed spot kicks to beat both Denmark and Russia, two of the less fancied teams in the knockout stages, just to reach the top four.
There are major question marks around the fitness of three of Croatia’s starters, with right-back Sime Vrsaljko limping off with an injury in extra time and the wounded pair of Mario Mandzukic and Danijel Subasic forced to soldier on when they had no substitutions left to make.
Subasic in particular would be a massive blow as Croatia need all hands on deck to shut out Harry Kane, the leading scorer in the tournament. - PR
CROATIA have a creative edge, with England lacking playmakers of Luka