Changing caddie can bag me another title
Knox aims to enjoy himself again as he targets Wentworth glory week
RUSSELL KNOX has a new caddie and now he wants a new start to his season at the BMW PGA.
The Scot has slipped to world No.34 after failing to record a top-10 finish in 11 events on the PGA Tour this year.
After missing the cut in his last two events Knox has hired his previous bagman Johann Benson at the start of a run of five events in six weeks on both sides of the Atlantic.
He said: “I just felt I needed a little change and hopefully that’ll spark me into gear. Johann has caddied for me, he’s a good friend and he’s caddied on the PGA Tour for a number of years.
“It’s maybe not a permanent thing, we’ll see over the next couple of weeks.
“I wasn’t enjoying myself as much as I should be out there. I just need to go out there and play like a kid again, have fun.”
Despite his indifferent results – his best is tied 11th at the Heritage Classic – Knox added: “My game is pretty good. But there have been a few factors why things haven’t been going as well.
“I’ve taken a bit of time off. I got myself into a little funk, I had one or two equipment issues. Even though my scores haven’t been as good as I would’ve liked my game is still there.
“I just need to go out and enjoy playing again. After last year such a good season, I maybe put too much pressure on myself subconsciously.
“I played an awful lot at the end of last year, probably too much. I knew there would be a little down spell. It hasn’t bothered me.
“I’m not in unbelievable form this year but it is in there somewhere. It just has to come out.
“I maybe need to hole a 10-footer on the first hole and away we go. It’s such a small line in golf.
“I’m playing five of the next six weeks so have a chance to play myself into form. I won’t be playing Ireland but I will do France and Scotland.
“My game is still there and I look forward to a massive summer.”
Knox missed the cut on his Wentworth debut last year after re-joining the European Tour but likes the re-designed West Course with 18 new greens and 29 fewer bunkers – and the Florida-style temperatures in southern England.
He said: “It’s unbelievable weather. This is perfect. It’s been a nice stroll the last couple of years. Some of the changes are very subtle so you don’t notice them because that’s the way they should have been.
“That kind of tells what a good job they have made of it because it looks like it should be that way.
“The course is very good. The greens are firm, they are fast. They might need a year to settle but that’s common.
“They are 100 times better than they were. It was compulsory that they made these changes.
“They had to do it. I enjoyed playing it last year but I’m going to enjoy it much more this time.
“It’s more enjoyable to play the course. The fairway bunkers were far too deep. You couldn’t reach the green, you were just hacking out.
“That’s no fun unless it’s links golf but this is not links golf. Now if you hit it in them you have a chance to get it somewhere around the green.
“The greens are more like I am used to in the USA. They are firm, very firm and pretty fast.
“You have to hit good shots. You’ll have to have the right flight in your shots to get it close. It’s not target golf. It will be tricky.”