Russell

Knox

The straight shooters circled nine birdies on day one but traded four circles with two bogeys today. Things got off to a rough start when they had to take a drop after an errant tee shot on their opening hole, leading to a bogey. They chipped away from there with birdies at 5, 7, and 11 with a pair of missed opportunities from the 10-to-12 foot range at the 9th and 13th. This duo arrived with a combined five top 25s in 15 career starts at the Zurich Classic, including Stuard’s solo win in the weather-shortened 2016 edition. Today was nothing to write home about for the duo but they held their position on the live leaderboard, currently tied for ninth with the afternoon wave still out on the course.

After opening with bogey-free 65 (7 birdies), the Scot led by one, his fourth 18-hole lead/co-lead in 257 events, and for the fourth time, did not hold on to the lead. He went 11 worse on Day 2 at TPC San Antonio, outbalancing two birdie-4s with six bogeys, all bogey-5s, lowlighted by four squares in his last six. After gaining 6.517 strokes tee-to-green in R1 and eking out a 0.228 with the flat stick, the 36-year-old posted a -0.982 SG: Off-the-Tee and -3.025 SG: Putting in R2. His most recent of two TOUR titles came 147 starts ago at the 2016 Travelers as World No. 26. UPDATE: With the tournament complete, Knox finished T61 on even-par 288 (65-76-71-76) and drops to 0-for-4 as an 18-hole leader/co-leader.

Knox set the tone for the day right away when he stuffed his 173-yard approach inside of three feet for a kick-in birdie to begin his round. He would add six more circles before his day was over, without dropping a single show along the way. Steady driving was the name of the game as he piped 12-of-14 fairways and from there pelted 14 GIR. “I took care of business off the tee, which was nice. Obviously this course, if you get offline, it can be very penal. So I drove the ball well, iron play was solid again... Over the last couple years just kind of got off track slightly, was hitting a few wayward tee shots. But I’ve worked hard with my coach, Mark, and we’ve really went back to fundamentals, got my setup correct and it just gives me the freedom to kind of swing away.” Knox arrived with missed cuts in his last three appearances at the Valero (2015, 2018, 2021) but current form is winning out over course history at the moment. If this lead holds it would be his fourth career first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR (T28/2013 Pebble Beach Pro-Am; T9/2020-21 Safeway Open; T23/2020-21 Mayakoba).

The Scot had control of his ball the entire week at TPC Sawgrass. He piped 41-of-56 fairways (T9) and landed 78% of greens in regulation (3rd). That steady ball-striking helped keep the big numbers off his card as he swallowed seven bogeys but nothing worse for the entire week. Just how rare is that at this event? He carded just 15 birdies (T32) and no eagles but still found himself in a share of sixth place by week’s end, thanks to the big-number avoidance. This will be his third top 15 of the season but first career top 15 at THE PLAYERS (T17 in 2015). “I’ve been working with my coach now, Mark McCann for almost two years probably, and we’re finally getting somewhere. It’s been great. I’m finally trusting it.” Knox is building a lot of confidence recently and should be a name to watch closely in weekly fantasy leagues.

The NE Florida resident lamented afterwards (link below) that he’s had “zero success here and every time I go around the course, I mean, you catch little things.” He opened with 68 (5 birdies, 2 bogeys), his first sub-70 lap at The Riv in seven tries, and chases with two bogeys, two birdie-2s, and a pair of eagle-3s in R2 for his first made cut in his fourth visit. On eight (of 14) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, the 36-year-old gained 2.452 strokes on approach and eked out a 0.163 SG: Putting at last check, highlighted by 3s at 1 and 11, each from between 11 and 18 feet. He arrived off a couple of T33s at last week’s WM Phoenix Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach, and is chasing his second top 10 of the season in 12 events, first since the Sony four starts ago, where he was T37 at the midpoint (67-67-64-65).

There’s a few players left on the course but the 36-year-old is going to record his 24th career top 10 in 249 events, first since T7 at last season’s AT&T Pebble Beach 28 starts and 11 months ago, where he was T2 after 54 holes. This was his 11th consecutive Sony, fourth top 25 and second top 10, joining a T10 four tries ago in 2018, and checked in off a T40 at the RSM eight weeks ago. For the week, the Scot posted laps of 67-67-64-65, totaled 21 birdies against four bogeys, and currently ranks 10th in SG: Approach (5.413), 26th in SG: Putting (1.577), and 7th in SG: Tee-to-Green (7.113). He is in the published field at this coming week’s American Express.

The Scot owns 23 career top 10s in 248 events, one here in 10 prior visits (T10/2018), but hasn’t recorded one since T7 at last season’s AT&T Pebble Beach 28 starts and 11 months ago. After opening with a pair of 67s, he began T37 on 6-under, three shy of the overnight top 10, and landed 10 (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation. The 36-year-old squared a lone bogey-5 at 16 (forced layup), outflanked by seven birdies, four from between 10 and 27 feet. He posted 0.106 SG: Off-the-Tee, 1.542 SG: Approach, 0.861 SG: Around, and 1.969 SG: Putting. The NE Florida resident’s most recent of two TOUR victories came at the 2016 Travelers 139 starts ago, where he came from three back (T2) with 2-under 68 to win by one over Jerry Kelly.

Knox was a tactician from tee to green today. He piped 10-of-14 fairways and parlayed that into 16 GIR. It wasn’t just the quantity of green hits, though, he also delivered in the quality department. Knox gave himself eight scoring chances from inside of 15 feet with six of those coming from inside of nine feet. The Scot is no stranger to success at Silverado Resort and Spa as he was the first-round leader here last year before fading to T9 by week’s end. He’s on pace for another big week in Napa to get his season started right.

Coming off three consecutive missed cuts, Russell Knox heads to Greensboro looking to put an end to this streak. Before this recent skid, the Scot had put together a strong 2020-2021 campaign. Starting in 2020, Knox put together three top-16 finishes in his first five starts of the super season. Once the calendar flipped, he tacked on two more similar results during the west coast swing before play headed to Florida. With four top-40 finishes since the beginning of May, he now comes to the Wyndham Championship inside the top-125 of the FedEx Cup standings. 50 points ahead of Scott Piercy, who occupies the 126th spot in the standings, Knox in all likelihood will be in the field for the Northern Trust, the first playoff event.

The Scot was somewhat steady on day one with 10 (of 14) fairways and 14 greens but couldn’t produce much of a score out of it. That changed today while playing preferred lies on a windy morning. “I need the wind, I think, to bring out the creativity in my game. It was windy, but I was in control of my ball today, which is something which I’ve been lacking, I guess, maybe over the course of the season.” Knox lapped the field with his irons today (+5.796 SG:Approach) which gave him birdie-or-better looks from inside of 16 feet on all but five holes today. Knox arrived with finishes of T35 or worse in five straight starts but he’s back on track now after the low round of the morning. This will be his first time posting inside of the top 20 thru 36 holes played since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, 14 starts ago.