Knox wins Irish Open in playoff

Russell Knox gave proponents of putting by feel a huge boost by knocking in a couple of 40-foot bombs Sunday to win the $7 million Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. The Scotsman needed to hole his 40-foot birdie putt on Ballyliffin’s 18th hole to get to 14 under and a chance of a playoff with New Zealand’s Ryan Fox. He duly did so. The 33-year-old found himself with almost the same length putt from the same location on the first playoff hole. Guess what? It also found the hole. Knox won his second European Tour title when Fox lipped out from inside 15 feet. The Inverness native shot a closing 66 to come from six shots back after 54 holes to tie Fox at the top of the leaderboard on 14 under. Knox was second in the French Open the week before Ireland and is now in with a shot at a Ryder Cup debut. “To make the Ryder Cup team you have to win tourna- ments,” Knox said, “and this is a heck of a start.” — Alistair Tait