After 2020’ s school of hard Knox, Russell is going down Laird line
Russell Knox hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow Scot Martin Laird as he tries to get back on track and into the winner’s circle again.
Knox finished 127th in the 2019/20 PGA Tour season after a string of missed cuts as he failed to make the play-offs for the first time on the main tour since 2012.
He is already seven events into the new season and is in a much healthier 58th place in the Fedex Cup standings, although he has fallen down to 227th in the World Rankings.
But there is an air of determination as he begins 2021 at the Sony Open in Hawaii on Thursday.
The 35- year- old now shares the same coach as Laird in Mark Mccann, and hopes the work he has been putting in pays the same dividends as it did for the Glasgow golfer – tied for 22nd heading into the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua – following his success at the Shiriners Hospital for Children’s Open in Las Vegas in October (inset below).
“Martin has been working with Mark for a long time, whereas I’ve only just recently starting working with him,” Knox told The Sunday Post.
“But we’ve spent a lot of time together in practice rounds with our coach, so it was fun to be around in the lead up to his win and then seeing him afterwards.
“We’ve become good friends over the years, and it was great to see Martin play well, and win, after a little bit of an injury. Of course, that inspires me.
“But it’s the same with the Scottish players on the European Tour, like Robert Macintyre. He finally got his first win and it seems like there’s a bunch of good golfers coming up. “Hopefully I can get up there and inspire a few people too.
“When I was at my lowest point of missing cuts last summer, it was a co-incidence that I started working with Martin’s coach.
“But it was nice to see that relationship produce a victory, while Mark also works with Canadian Nick Taylor, who won at Pebble Beach last February. “I’m sure he’d love a third winner, so I’ve got to get my finger out!”
S u c h were Knox’s struggles in 2020 that he did not make a cut between early February and the end of July, even allowing for the three-month stoppage on the PGA Tour due to lockdown.
He now feels more on an even keel working with Mccann, but it’s a question of turning that into results.
It’s nearly three years since his last win – the 2018 Irish Open – but he has only recorded three top-10s since then. And changing that is the only way he’ll start to climb the rankings again.
“Missing the Play- offs was horrible,” admitted the Inverness native.
“I hated every minute of that. I don’t feel like a golfer who should be missing the top 125.
“But I only have myself to blame. I just got away from what I do best, I missed a bunch of cuts and went searching for it, but that’s golf.
“I feel like I’m well past that now. It refocused me to get back to work and hopefully I won’t have that problem again.
“The last couple of years, I just
feel like I’ve not had that really big finish. That is the only thing that is missing.
“In order to do that, everything has to tidy up a little bit and I have to play well for four days, rather than three days with maybe one poor day thrown in.
“But every part of my game feels solid so I know that, if I’m patient, during the year I will have a good little run somewhere. It doesn’t necessarily have to be at the start but that would be nice.
“Every golfer says it, but I feel like I’m one week away from taking off.”
One of the consequences of 2020 was that Knox did not make it over for the Scottish Open. But he would love to be back at The Renaissance in July.
“I hated not coming over as it’s one of my favourite tournaments of the year,” he added.
“Of course, I’d love to play. Hopefully it’s on the cards and I definitely look forward to being there.”