Russell Knox 'super proud' as last-hole birdie at Sawgrass is worth $150,000

Russell Knox said he felt “super proud of myself” after holing a putt on the last green worth $150,000 to finish joint-sixth behind Australian Cameron Smith in The Players Championship in Florida.

The 36-year-old Scot confidently knocked in a 15-footer for a closing birdie at TPC Sawgrass, the huge smile on his face as it dropped showing what that meant to him at the end of a long week due to weather delays in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Knox, who lives close by in Jacksonville, had been a shot off the lead after picking up three birdies in the first four holes in the final round before having the wind taken out of his sails by two bogeys before the turn.

But, after continuing to play some solid golf, he eventually closed with a two-under 70 to finish in a tie for sixth in eight-under, picking up a whopping cheque for $675,000 when a par at the last would have left him having to settle for a $525,000 pay-day.

Russell Knox of Scotland reacts after making a birdie putt on the 18th green during the final round of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Picture: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.

“I played well. I fought hard. I was smart. I hit a lot of good shots,” said the Invernesian, who headed into golf’s so-called fifth major sitting 238th in the world but is set to make a decent jump.

“Super proud of myself, especially the way I finished there on 18. It's definitely my best performance of the year.”

Knox, a two-time tour winner, jumped 25 spots to 48th in the FedEx Cup standings on the back of this effort and is excited about the rest of his season .

“Everything,” he replied to being asked what he’d been most happy about in his game. “I drove the ball very well this week.

“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.

“Had a little putting lesson with Len Mattiace at the start of the week, and that was great. Rolled the ball significantly better than my normal this week, which was great.

“Everything is firing. Delighted where my game is at, and it was definitely nice to get a result this week.”

Knox had been out in one of the first groups on Thursday morning but then didn’t start his second circuit until Saturday afternoon due to interruptions caused by bad weather.

“It's definitely been a week unlike I've ever experienced,” he said. “I mean, to finish my second round on Sunday and then play obviously a lot of golf in the next day and a half, super weird.

“I'm exhausted, that's for sure. It's a very stressful course and obviously a massive tournament, especially for me living here now. Yeah, I'm glad it's over.”

Knox said he’d bumped into Fred Funk, a Jacksonville resident who’d prevailed in a Monday finish in 2005, earlier in the week and, at one point, thought he could follow in his footsteps.

“He gave me some encouraging words and, yeah, after the flying start I got off to, I was like, ‘I could do this’,” admitted Knox. “[But] I had a little rough patch after that that brought me back down to earth.”

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