Russell Knox will start two shots behind the leader on Sunday at Gullane to mark run of stellar form going into The Open
July looks like the hottest month for Russell Knox. Fresh from finishing second in the French Open and then winning the Irish Open last week to earn the thick end of £1.5 million in the past fortnight, the 33-year-old Scot charged into contention with a four-under-par round of 66 to finish on 11 under at Gullane.
Knox is now two shots behind leader Jens Dantorp, who finished on 13-under after birdying the last three holes following a round that started with two bogeys in the opening three holes. The Swede is one shot ahead of a group of six players tied for second place on 12-under.
Knox pronounced himself pleased but almost surprised by his round, given how drained he felt earlier in the week. Dead on his feet, he resorted to the routine from his student days: 12 hours of sleep followed by a slap-up full Scottish. “Toast and bacon, that’s where it’s at,” he joked.
Now based in Florida, the Invernesian is in the form of his life and desperate to win his home Open. Knox’s well-crafted round, which included four birdies in the inward nine, owed much to his familiarity with the course, and he believes that playing to a home crowd gives him a fighting chance of claiming the winner’s cheque of $1,167,660 (£882,196).
“If it’s me versus someone who’s not Scottish I sure hope they’re going to root for me,” he said. “I’ll sleep like a king again tonight and promise that I’ll give it everything I’ve got tomorrow.
“I’m playing well and, just as importantly, I’m thinking well. Confidence snowballs in a good and a bad way, and obviously I’m on a good wave just now – I’ve just got to keep riding it.” Nor was Knox the only home player to impress. Stephen Gallacher’s quietly impressive five-under round of 65 catapulted him up the leaderboard to nine-under and kept alive the veteran’s slim hopes of qualifying for The Open. For a player now ranked 109th on the European Tour after a relentlessly disappointing year, this is as good as it gets.
Gallacher could yet claim an unlikely late entrée to Carnoustie as one of the three leading players in the Scottish Open top 10 (or who are tied for 10th) who are not already qualified for The Open. It attests to Gallacher’s mental fortitude that the 43-year-old, who started his week with a 70 and was so wayward on Friday that he ended up playing a shot from the tented village before making the cut by a single stroke, still has a shot at his equivalent of a Willy Wonka golden ticket.
“I’ve been struggling to be honest,” admitted Gallacher. “I’ve been working hard on my technique, just trying to make my bad shots better because they have been penal. So I’ve been trying to get them back in the ballpark.”
The aim yesterday, he said, was to dispense with caution to give himself a chance of securing a place at Carnoustie. “That was the plan,” he said.
“When you’re nine shots behind you’ve got to try to go as low as you can and see what happens.”
Elsewhere, the day’s in-form players were a pair of Antipodeans who both finished the day with rounds of seven-under to lead a pack of players tied on 12-under. Aussie Scott Hend shot a round of 63 to finish on 12-under, as did Ryan Fox, the son of 1987 World Cup-winning All Blacks fly-half Grant Fox, who finished with three birdies and an eagle in the last five holes.
Elsewhere, there were mixed fortunes for the halfway leaders. Overnight leader Robert Rock’s challenge imploded with a six-over-par round that included five bogeys plus a triple-bogey at the 11th. Tyrell Hatton, who started the day two shots behind Rock on 11-under, started with three bogeys and a birdie in the outward nine before coming back with one bogey and three birdies to finish on level par for the day.
