Russell Knox bolsters Ryder Cup hopes with Travelers Championship win
By Keith Jackson
SKYSPORTS.COM
Russell Knox further
enhanced his Ryder Cup credentials after holding his nerve to hole a
clutch par putt on the 72nd green to snatch a one-shot victory at the
Travelers Championship.
The victory was worth $1,188,00 to the Florida-based man from Inverness ... but probably a lot more in terms of a place in the European team to play the United States.
After Jim Furyk had stolen the headlines by becoming the first player in PGA Tour history to card a 58,
a battling 68 was enough to earn Knox his second win of the season
having made his breakthrough at the WGC-HSBC Champions back in November.
Knox
had started the round three shots adrift of 54-hole leader Daniel
Berger, who crashed out of contention with a torrid run of four
consecutive bogeys after the turn, while veteran Jerry Kelly emerged as
the Scot's closest challenger after he closed with a 64 to set the
clubhouse target at 13 under.
Russell Knox flings his hat away after holing the winning putt at TPC River Highlands
With
most of the world's media focused on Furyk's record-breaking exploits
earlier in the day, Knox made a steady start as he followed two solid
pars with a 22-foot putt for birdie at the third before giving the shot
straight back when he tugged his drive into a fairway bunker at the
next.
Knox got back on track with a good four at the long sixth,
where playing-partner Berger's problems began as he ran up an ugly six,
although the pair traded three pars to keep the American ahead at the
turn.
But
Berger's game disintegrated on the back nine, finding bunkers and
dropping shots at 10, 11 and 12 before compounding the errors by
blocking his drive at the 13th into water.
Knox found sand twice
at the par-five 13th, but he splashed out of the second to six feet and
rolled in the putt for birdie, and he picked up another shot from
similar range at the next to open up a three-shot lead over the field.
Knox closed with a 68 to snatch a one-shot win over Jerry Kelly
Kelly
reduced the deficit with a birdie at 15, and Knox narrowly failed to
match his three before coming close to disaster at the short 16th, where
his tee shot came up short and held on the bank at the front of the
green when it looked certain to roll back into the lake.
Knox
could not take full advantage of his reprieve as he pitched to 10 feet
and mis-read the par putt, but he steadied himself with a rock-solid par
at 17 before blocking his drive into the gallery to the right of the
18th fairway.
His second landed in the front-right bunker and his
escape pulled up 12 feet short of the pin, but he regained his composure
to roll the putt into the centre of the cup to join Jason Day, Dustin
Johnson, Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth as multiple winners this season.
Kelly,
who is eligible to join the PGA Tour Champions in November, made an
early move with three birdies over the first five holes and, as Berger
slipped after the turn, the veteran vaulted into firm contention when he
holed a wedge from 113 yards for an unlikely eagle at the 12th.
The
charismatic American also birdied 13 and 15 either side of what proved
to be a costly dropped shot at the 14th, and he was typically gracious
in defeat after settling for outright second.
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Justin
Thomas also made a significant move when he reeled off five consecutive
birdies to cap an outward 30, and he picked up four more shots on the
home stretch while carding his lone bogey of the day at 14 to close with
a superb eight-under 62.
Thomas shared third on 12 under with
Patrick Rodgers (68), while Furyk's astonishing round propelled him 65
places up the leaderboard into a tie for fifth with Berger, who had
started the day 16 shots ahead of the 46-year-old.
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