Russell Knox is from Scotland.
He wants desperately to be on the European Ryder Cup team come September.
Sunday at Ballyliffin he made his case really strong for a spot.
Knox came from behind with a pair of bombs — one at the 72nd hole then one about a half hour later on the same 18th green to win the Irish Open.
Knox found himself in the hunt when overnight leader Erik Van Rooyen blew a four-shot lead after his first nine holes thanks to three bogeys over the final four going out to open the door for Knox and a host of contenders.
Along with Knox, Ryan Fox was there, so was Jorge Campillo, so was Jon Rahm. Campillo made a scrambling par at 18 to post 13 under then waited for the groups behind him.
Rahm’s approach to the 18th nearly went in the hole for eagle, he settled for a kick-in birdie to finish at 12-under, one short of Campillo.
Then Knox came to 18 looking like he’d join Campillo. His drive found the thick rough and his second was 40 feet away. Then the crowd came to life with a roar when he holed it for birdie to post 14-under.
Fox had just birdied 17 to go to 14-under then at 18 he stuck his approach within 10 feet for birdie to win. He missed and sent it to a playoff with Knox.
As if one bomb wasn’t enough, Knox faced another birdie putt from nearly the same 40-foot distance with Fox sitting pretty just inside 10 feet for his birdie.
Knox struck again with a second consecutive bomb and watched as Fox lipped out, handing Knox his first-ever win in Europe.
This victory along with his tie for second in France last week has him looking like a strong candidate to be on the European side in September.
Knox was simply elated.
“To make a putt like that, it’s a dream come true,” he said. “It’s so hard to win tournaments. The way I managed to do it, holing those two long putts, it was just my time. I’m just lucky to win one of these massive events.”
