Russell Knox
| Russell Knox | |
|---|---|
| — Golfer — | |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
21 June 1985 Inverness, Scotland |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight | 155 lb (70 kg; 11.1 st) |
| Nationality |
 Scotland |
| Residence | Jacksonville Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Career | |
| College | Jacksonville University |
| Turned professional | 2007 |
| Current tour(s) |
PGA Tour European Tour |
| Former tour(s) | Web.com Tour |
| Professional wins | 6 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 2 |
| Web.com Tour | 1 |
| Other | 3 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | CUT: 2016 |
| U.S. Open | T23: 2016 |
| The Open Championship | T30: 2016 |
| PGA Championship | T22: 2016 |
Russell Knox (born 21 June 1985) is a Scottish professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. In November 2015 he won the 2015 WGC-HSBC Champions by two strokes from Kevin Kisner for his first PGA Tour win. In doing so, he became the first Scottish golfer to win a WGC event.
Personal life
Knox was born in Inverness, Scotland. His father was born in San Diego, California. He attended Culloden Academy. He won a golf scholarship in 2003 at Jacksonville University, Florida. He married Mexican former tennis player Andrea Hernandez in April 2014. Knox's parents live in the States. The only family member living in Scotland is his sister Diane Knox, a former radio presenter on Clyde 1, who lives in Glasgow.[1]
Professional career
Knox turned professional in 2007. He played on the NGA Hooters Tour from 2008–10, picking up two victories in the process. He joined the Nationwide Tour in 2011 and picked up his first victory on tour in July at the Chiquita Classic. He eventually finished 12th on the Nationwide Tour money list and gained his full PGA Tour card. His first PGA Tour event was the 2011 Transitions Championship but he failed to make the cut. His first PGA Tour event as a full member was the 2012 Sony Open in Hawaii where he missed the cut by a single stroke. He made only 12 cuts in 23 events in 2012 and finished 143rd on the money list to remain conditionally exempt on the PGA Tour for 2013. He split time between the PGA Tour and Web.com Tours in 2013. He played in the Web.com Tour Finals and finished 20th to earn his PGA Tour card for 2014.
On July 26, 2013, Knox shot a 59 in the second round of the Albertsons Boise Open on the Web.com Tour.[2]
After an impressive start to his 2014 season, Knox came close to winning his maiden PGA Tour title at the Honda Classic, eventually losing to Russell Henley in a four-man playoff that also included Rory McIlroy and Ryan Palmer.[3] Knox finished 48th in the regular season FedEx Cup points list, qualifying for the 2014 FedEx Cup Playoffs, eventually finishing in 40th place.
He had a good start to the 2014-2015 PGA Tour season with a 3rd place in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He finished tied for 3rd in the The Honda Classic and made the cut in 20 PGA Tour events. Finishing 44th in the regular season FedEx Cup points list, he qualified for the 2015 FedEx Cup Playoffs. Good performances in the The Barclays and Deutsche Bank Championship lifted him to 29th place in the FedEx Cup standing but he only finished tied for 45th in BMW Championship to drop out of the top 30 in the standings and so missed out on the Tour Championship. Knox also made a rare appear in Europe at the 2015 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, finishing in a tie for 10th place.
In November 2015, Knox won the 2015 WGC-HSBC Champions by two strokes from Kevin Kisner. Knox was playing in his first WGC event and became the first Scot to win a World Golf Championship. Knox only qualified for the tournament as seventh reserve and third alternate. The win lifted him to 31st in the World Rankings, his first time in the world top 50 and earned him place in the Masters for 2016. After the win, Knox became a European Tour member in the hope of playing for Europe in the 2016 Ryder Cup.[4][5] Knox did not qualify for the Ryder Cup because the points from his WGC win were not retroactively added and he was not a European Tour member at the time.
Knox missed the cut on his Masters debut but responded two weeks later with a runner-up finish at the RBC Heritage, where he finished two shots behind winner Branden Grace.[6]
Professional wins (6)
PGA Tour wins (2)
| Legend |
| World Golf Championships (1) |
| Other PGA Tour events (1) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 Nov 2015 | WGC-HSBC Champions | −20 (67-65-68-68=268) | 2 strokes |  Kevin Kisner |
| 2 | 7 Aug 2016 | Travelers Championship | −14 (67-67-64-68=266) | 1 stroke | Jerry Kelly |
PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2014 | Honda Classic | Russell Henley,  Rory McIlroy, Ryan Palmer |
Henley won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 2015 | OHL Classic at Mayakoba | Jason Bohn, Graeme McDowell |
McDowell won with birdie on first extra hole |
Nationwide Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 Jul 2011 | Chiquita Classic | −25 (68-66-63-66=263) | 3 strokes | Billy Hurley III |
NGA Hooters Tour wins (2)
- 2009 Silver Star Hotel & Casino Golf Classic
- 2010 Gold Strike Casino Classic
Other wins (1)
- 2010 Palmetto Hall Championship (EGolf Professional Tour)
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT |
| U.S. Open | T45 | DNP | DNP | T23 |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | CUT | T30 |
| PGA Championship | DNP | CUT | CUT | T22 |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10
World Golf Championships
Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | WGC-HSBC Champions | Tied for lead | −20 (67-65-68-68=268) | 2 strokes | Kevin Kisner |
Results timeline
| Tournament | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|
| Cadillac Championship | DNP | 27 |
| Dell Match Play | DNP | T28 |
| Bridgestone Invitational | DNP | 54 |
| HSBC Champions | 1 | T9 |
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
Team Appearances
Professional
Sponsorships
Knox currently has endorsements with Cleveland Golf, Vineyard Vines, Mutual of Omaha, Srixon, and Sligo.[7]
See also
References
- ↑ Durent, Jamie (22 March 2015). "Opportunity Knox for golf star Russell". The Inverness Courier.
- ↑ Shain, Jeff (26 July 2013). "Knox makes 'nearly everything' to shoot magical 59". PGA Tour. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ↑ "Russell Henley survives four-way playoff to win Honda Classic". Golf.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
- ↑ Murray, Ewan (8 November 2015). "Russell Knox pulls off Shanghai surprise with WGC-HSBC Champions win". The Guardian.
- ↑ Crawford, Kenny (21 November 2015). "Russell Knox: Florida-based Scot takes European Tour membership". BBC Sport.
- ↑ McEwan, Michael (18 April 2016). "Russell Knox thrilled with RBC Heritage showing". bunkered.
- ↑ Icon Sports Management profile
External links
- Russell Knox at the PGA Tour official site
- Russell Knox at the European Tour official site
- Russell Knox at the Official World Golf Ranking official site