Nightmare run is finally at an end for Russell
Russell Knox has ended a nightmare run of 10 consecutive missed cuts after forcing his way into contention at the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship in California.
The Inverness ace grabbed a share of fifth spot after carding rounds of 68 and 67 to sit two shots off the pace at halfway on seven-under-par.
And before heading into last night’s third round, Knox admitted: “It was a big relief, but it also feels a bit weird because just before the pandemic I wasn’t that far off with some good results.
“I finished tied 16th at the Phoenix Open and obviously I didn’t for a moment dream that when I returned to competition I would come out like a snail.
“However, in the last couple of weeks my game has felt a 100 times better and with my ball-striking being great, I knew I was again heading in the right direction and super-close to playing good golf, so this is a very positive sign.”
Knox revealed that he put his feet up for a large part of the 12 weeks he spent in lockdown, in the belief that his game was in good shape.
But despite also starting to work with new Atlanta-based coach Mark McCann, the 35-year-old Scot’s hopes of hitting the ground running when the tour returned at the Charles Schwab Challenge in June, Knox continued to struggle.
As a result, he carried on from where he’d left off in March by missing his first six cuts.
However, he insisted: “Despite being kind of hopeless and missing cuts, Mark has helped me get back on the straight and narrow.
“Missing all those cuts and having weekends off was tough and I know I am a far better golfer than what I was showing.
“But I feel now I am back on the right track and these two days have definitely been a nice confident booster.
“Now I’m going out there to have a blast on a course that is one of the best there is.
“I have a game plan worked out and I just have to hit like I did the first 27 holes and I should be fine”.