The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Intrepid Knox no easy Ryder
Russell Knox is taking on a huge task in trying to play both tours.
It looks like we’re going to see a lot more of Russell on the European Tour this year, which can only help him in his bid to make Thomas Bjorn’s Ryder Cup team for 2018, but it will be a gruelling challenge for him.
Russell just missed out on selection for Darren Clarke’s team last year and has said he is going to give everything in a bid to make the team for next year’s match in Paris.
He has scheduled three events for the summer, the BMW PGA championship at Wentworth in May, the French Open in June and the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Dundonald Links in July.
Doing well in those three tournaments and the joint events will be key for him but it will be a struggle trying to juggle both the European and PGA tours.
The US schedule starts in October and ends in September, while the European Tour starts in December and runs through to mid-November. It could effectively be a year-round commitment for him. If I were him I’d be picking and choosing my events through the summer as he has done and really throwing myself into the events in October and November if at all possible.
It is clear he has learned lessons from missing out on the European team last year and is trying to make sure he doesn’t miss out this time around. I wish him luck but he has taken on a huge challenge.
Look at the thriving scene in English golf. One glance at the world rankings shows seven guys in the top 50. Russell is the only Scot in the top 100.
The average age of Scots on the European Tour is around 37. I’d hazard a guess it’s in the mid-20s for England. People will look at that and ask what is it that English golf is doing that Scottish isn’t? The answer is that there’s very little difference really at youth level but, for some reason, we can’t seem to bring through the next batch while they seem to be coming through in batches from down south. Guys like Chris Wood, David Horsey and Tommy Fleetwood came through English youth teams together and, with Danny Willett winning the Masters last year, it has led to a snowball effect. That’s what happens. As golfers, we look at our peers and if we see them doing well we think if they can do it then why can’t we?
I used Paul Lawrie as motivation for making the Ryder Cup team for Gleneagles. He was a similar age to me when he made the team in 2012, so I thought I could do it, too.
It’s been a leaner period for Scottish golf, which means Russell will have to go it alone. It won’t be easy but I wish him well.