Knox hoping his game will benefit from cryotherapy

RUSSELL KNOX revealed he’s been warming-up for his defence of this week’s WGC HJSBC Champions event in Shanghai by immersing his body in baths of temperatures up to minus 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

Knox’s wife, Andrea, recently opened a cryotherapy practice in their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida and Scotland’s top-ranked golfer is her star client. Cryotherapy involves using cold temperatures to promote natural healing and wellness. It is deemed a fast and effective alternative to traditional ice baths and stimulates the same refreshing benefits.

Knox has been warmly promoting the ice-cold practice with pictures on his Twitter account showing him immersed up to his neck in a large water-tank like bath. His wife and her sister opened the business on August 20 and the same weekend as the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship. Knox’s decision not to tee-up in North Carolina raised plenty of eyebrows as that would have been his last European Ryder Cup qualifying event.

“I’ll do cryotherapy every day I’m at home, and I’m forced into it,” said Knox, smiling. “Seriously, it’s excellent as it makes me feel great, so hopefully it’s also helping my golf game. You can set it to as low as minus 246 Fahrenheit but you only stay in for three minutes, wearing gloves and boots and your underwear, and with your head sticking out.”

All four Major winners of the year will tee-up in Shanghai, while four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy returns to competition for a first time since the Ryder Cup. It is also McIlroy’s first ‘paying’ event since earning a whopping £9.4m in capturing the Tour Championship and the £8.1m bonus prize. The World No. 3 was asked if the PGA Tour had paid the amount into his bank account.

“I knew the amount was there when JP, my caddie gave me a text and said thanks, and I think his words were ‘A tsunami just hit my bank account, so thank you very much’,” said McIlroy. “JP got a nice percentage of that, so I knew at that point it was there.”