Knox glad to see fellow Scot shoot up rankings and hopes more Saltires will feature on scoreboards
Russell Knox is still the Scottish No 1, but maybe not for long. After his brilliant debut in the 148th Open Championship, Bob Macintyre is up to 102nd in the world rankings and closing in on 72nd-ranked Knox.
The 22-year-old from Oban ended last year lying 247th in the global standings and it has been onwards and upwards ever since. In tying for sixth at Royal Portrush, he has jumped another 44 spots.
Coupled with wins by David Law and Stephen Gallacher and some strong performances by Grant Forrest on the European Tour, Macintyre’s efforts this season have put a smile on the face of Scottish golf, just as Knox did when he became the first Scot to win a World Golf Championship with victory in the HSBC Champions in China in 2015, then backed that up with a victory on the PGA Tour in the Travelers Championship. Now the Us-based Invernesian is delighted to see the Saltire flying high again in big events.
“I do keep a bit of an eye on what’s happening with Scottish golf,” he said before jumping on a plane to head home to Jacksonville in Florida after the final major of the season. “Robert has been getting some good press, quite rightly so, because he’s been playing very well. Grant Forrest also looks like he’s going to be a great player.
“Hopefully myself and Martin Laird can keep playing well over in the US – and the guys on Tour over here can keep going, too. I’d much rather see Scottish flags than English flags up on the leaderboard! There have been a lot of English flags in recent years.”
Not long ago Scotland didn’t have a player on the main European circuit under 30, Macintyre and fellow Challenge Tour graduates from last season Forrest, Law and Liam Johnston are all in their 20s, as are Connor Syme and Calum Hill, both winners on the Challenge Tour this year.
“It’s about time there was a good crop of young players coming through,” added Knox, pictured. “Yeah, it wasn’t too clever for a while. And there was no reason for that. It’s just on us to play better golf. “I hope there is a massive flood of us who start playing well. A lot of work has gone into it, so it’s good to see it paying off.”
Matthew Wolff, a 20-yearold American, recently won on the PGA Tour in only his third start and Norwegian Viktor Holvland, another exciting young talent, has also hit the ground running on the US circuit since turning pro after being leading amateur in the US Open at Pebble Beach.
“It just shows youngsters that, if you’re good at golf, it doesn’t matter where you’re from,” said Knox of him hailing from Inverness and Macintyre coming through the ranks at the Glencruitten club in Oban. “The only goal is to get the ball in the hole quickly.” At 22, I was just out of college, playing mini-tour golf – and I wasn’t very good. Not compared to what I am now. I definitely wasn’t ready to play PGA Tour or European Tour golf.
“But times have changed. When I first came on Tour, hardly anybody was 22. Maybe at 25 or 26, you were almost ready. But the average age was definitely in the 30s – and it doesn’t feel like that now, even on the PGA Tour. At 22, you’d better be ready – or you’re getting lapped.”
Like Knox, Macintyre has a warm glow when he steps on to a golf course and, apart from being angered for a short while by Kyle Stanley not shouting “fore” and hitting two spectators with golf balls, he wore a permanent smile at Royal Portrush.
“That has helped a lot. Absolutely,” observed Knox. “Viktor Holvland is another who is smiling ear to ear every minute. People love that – because we’re all too grumpy! You play the game long enough, you won’t be smiling… so, good on him for smiling so much. It takes very little to smile but, if you do it, you’ll gain a lot of fans. Then, if you’re halfway decent, you’ll win more. Robert is way better than halfway decent.”