I’ll beat Tiger next time out, jokes Knox

Russell Knox says he won’t be daunted by big-name opponents should he be selected to face USA at this September’s Ryder Cup, joking that the next time he tees off alongside Tiger Woods he “will bury him”.

In the wake of his opening round at Carnoustie, playing in the same group as the 14-time major winner, the awestruck Scot, who is currently eighth in the European points list, revealed he had been unsettled by the experience of playing with his golfing hero.

But, less than 24 hours later, he insisted he had got that out his system and although he missed the cut and described his two-over par performance as “hopeless”, he put that down to weaknesses in his long game rather than an inferiority complex.

“You’re only going to ever get to play the first time with him once, and that was mine. We chatted away, I enjoyed my time out there and I enjoyed watching him play. He’s Tiger Woods for a reason. He hit some incredible shots and just picked his way around the course well. But I think it was important to get it out of the way, and next time I’ll bury him!

“I didn’t feel anything like that today. So, yeah, I was over it. Tiger, who’s that? Conditions were so difficult today. There was no time to think, ‘oh, I’m playing with Tiger’. It was just battling away from the get-go.”

The Scot will now head back to the States and focus on securing his place on Thomas Bjorn’s team for the Paris head-to-head.