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SPORTSFriday 8 January 2016
PGA Potpourri:
Knox knows Laettner - and his place as PGA Tour winner
DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) —
Russell Knox knows he is
in good company at the
Hyundai Tournament of
Champions because only
PGA Tour winners are at
Kapalua.
Russell Knox signs autographs on the 18th green during the Tournament of Champions golf pro-
am, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, at Kapalua Plantation Course on Kapalua, Hawaii.
That wasn’t always the
case, though Knox can be
forgiven.
Years ago, when the
30-year-old Scot was still
grinding in golf’s minor
leagues, a friend who
looked after Fred Funk’s
home in Florida invited
Knox over for a few beers
and to watch a fight on
pay-per-view. Funk’s house
had everything, including a
Van Zyl tops leaderboard in first round at SA Open and made good.
GAUTENG, South Africa
(AP) — Jaco van Zyl shot a
7-under 65 Thursday to top
a South African-dominat-
ed leaderboard in the first
round of the SA Open, the
European Tour’s first event
of 2016.
Van Zyl maintained the
form that put him in ties
for eighth and 13th at the
season-opening Alfred
Dunhill Championship and
Nedbank Golf Challenge
before Christmas, hitting six
birdies and an eagle.
It was the 36-year-old Van
Zyl’s first round of golf with- drought and heatwave.
pingpong table, and Knox
was playing when another
guest arrived.
“All of a sudden, this gorilla cool.”
of a man walks in,” Knox
said. “He says, ‘Oh, you’re
good at pingpong.’ That
was it. He didn’t even say
hello. He said, ‘I’m Christian and he’s probably a big-
Laettner,’ and I thought,
‘Who the hell is that?’ I
thought he must be a bas-
ketball player because he
was 7-foot tall, but I didn’t
know who he was.”
One game led to 20. A few
minutes turned into a few
hours. The Duke great and
NBA All-Star got the best of
Knox, but not by much. As
he left that night, Knox took
one last look at his environ-
out the assistance of knee
braces since he underwent
surgery to both knees in
March 2014.
Shaun Norris was alone in
second place after a 66,
and Jbe Kruger and Keith
Horne were tied for third at
5 under at Glendower Golf
Club as South Africans filled
the top four places. Two
more were in a six-way tie
at 4 under — Justin Wal-
ters and 2006 winner Retief
Goosen — on a low-scoring
day when the rough was
less penal after a recent
ment and told his friend, land to a small college
“Man, I can’t believe I’m in (Jacksonville University) to
Fred Funk’s house. This is so working in the cart barn to
save cash for the mini-tours
“He said, ‘Well, the guy and eventually a card on
you just played pingpong the PGA Tour.
with for the last four hours And now he is part of a
is called Christian Laettner, winners-only field along-
side Jordan Spieth and Ja-
son Day, Rickie Fowler and
Dustin Johnson.
Knox started his PGA Tour
career in 2010 at No. 963 in
(AP Photo/Matt York) the world.
Now he’s No. 30.
ger deal than Fred Funk,’” “I always hoped I would
Knox said. “So then I went be a top-50 player. At ev-
home and googled him. ery level of golf, I’ve al-
Oh, man, he was on the ways thought I could do it,
Dream Team.” but I needed to prove it to
Knox still isn’t in that league myself before I really felt I
yet, though he good a gi- could do it. Before you al-
ant step just by making it to ways hoped you could,”
Kapalua. he said. “I’ve still got to play a Toyota Highlander,” he
That 12-hour flight from Flor- incredible to do well, but at
ida to paradise was noth- least I know I can stand on
ing like his journey from a a tee and say, ‘I’ve won a
middling amateur in Scot- tournament before, and it
was a big one.’”
All he did was become
the first player since the in-
ception of the World Golf
Championships to win in his
debut, beating a field that
included Spieth, Johnson,
Rory McIlroy and a host of
others who have known
they were good all their
lives.
Knox was selected to play
for Scotland in an ama-
teur event in Spain during
his junior year in college.
It opened his eyes to the
standard of golf around
the world, and he knew it
wouldn’t include him if he
didn’t work harder.
“I can’t believe out of all
the Scottish guys on that
Defending champion Andy ber.
Sullivan of England shot 3 “I’ve had a couple of weeks
over and was 10 strokes off off, spending time with the
the pace. family,” Van Zyl said. “I’ve
Play was suspended for the had my fair share of whisky
day because of the threat and Christmas pudding so
of lightning, with 33 play- it was really nice to get off
ers still to finish their rounds. to a good start.”
Nicolas Colsaerts (shoulder) Starting at No. 10, Van Zyl
and Richard Finch (Achil- picked up four shots on his
les) retired in the first round. front nine, and moved to 7
Van Zyl has 13 victories on under after an eagle 3 at
South Africa’s Sunshine Tour the par-5 second hole. He
but is yet to win on the Eu- made up for his only bogey
ropean Tour, with the most of the round, on No. 7, by
recent of his four runner-up making a birdie from three
finishes coming at the Turk- feet on the next hole. q
ish Airlines Open in Novem-
team, I’ve done the best,”
he said. “Because I was the
worst by a mile.”
He still rates a Hooters Tour
event in Mississippi as highly
as a World Golf Champi-
onship. He had a one-shot
lead in the 18th fairway
when he hit 6-iron into the
water and lost by one.
He was distraught driving
back to Jacksonville. One
year later, with a one-shot
lead on the 18th hole in the
same tournament, in near-
ly the identical spot in the
fairway, he hit 6-iron onto
the green and won his first
event as a pro.
He received $33,500 for
that victory at Dancing
Rabbit Golf Club.
“I bought myself a car —
said. “And it was pretty
much the whole check.”
Knox won $1.4 million for
his victory in China, and he
won $545,600 for a playoff
loss to Graeme McDowell
a week later in Mexico. He
is going to the Masters for
the first time in April, and if
he plays reasonable well
this year will get into the
other majors and WGCs.
He also has joined the Eu-
ropean Tour with hopes
of making the Ryder Cup
team.
Knox already has played
the Nedbank Challenge.
He will play Abu Dhabi, the
Irish Open, Wentworth and
the Scottish Open at Cas-
tle Stuart, close to where
he grew up in Inverness. He
looks forward to that nearly
as much as the Masters. It
will be a great feeling for
the local kid who left home
He’s a PGA Tour winner.
He’s in the top 50 in the
world.
And he knows who Chris-
tian Laettner is.q