Russell Knox went out early on Thursday at the TPC San Antonio and put in a good day’s work that yielded a seven-under par 65 that put him in the lead at the Texas Open.
Later in the day, young Rasmus Hojgaard from the DP World Tour was sizzling-hot. He was seven-under through his first 10 holes then found himself in the solo lead at eight-under with one hole to play, the par four ninth. But an errant drive started a sequence of bad shots that led to a double-bogey six and Hojgaard went from one ahead to one behind Knox. At day’s end, Rasmus, a three-time winner on the DP World Tour, was alone at 66.
Knox knows there’s a big reward for the taking if he can finish in the winner’s circle come Sunday and that would be a spot in next week’s 86th Masters.
“I would love to win and get to play next week, that’s obviously why I’m here,” said Knox, who missed the cut in 2016 and 2017 in his only Masters appearances. “I know my game is good so I’ve got to keep playing and see if I can have a great finish. It would be the biggest bonus of the year, obviously, if that happened, but no, I’m quite happy to sit on the couch with my dog next week, too. But I mean, I’m going to try my hardest to finish first this week.”
Knox hit 14 greens on his way to his best first round of the season. He’s fallen to 169th in the world rankings and hasn’t won since the 2018 Irish Open.
“Obviously thrilled with the round,” Knox said. “I took care of business off the tee, which was nice. Obviously, this course, if you get off-line, it can be very penal. So I drove the ball well, iron play was solid again and just a couple of those good luck moments starting the round kind of got my momentum nice.”
There are some big names in the field, prepping for The Masters but it was a ho-hum day for most of them. Defending Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama shot a two-over par 74 and unless he comes up with a low round on Friday, he’ll be able to head to Augusta National for some early practice.
Defending champion Jordan Spieth struggled and finished with an even-par round of 72. Jason Day shot 74, Rory McIlroy had an inconsistent day and the result was 72. Bryson DeChambeau is still showing the effects of his long layoff. His 73 left him tied for 90th and in danger of missing the cut. Rickie Fowler shot 72 while Tony Finau’s 70 was good for a tie for 30th.
