Knox agony as he loses play-off for Open spots

IN a season of Scottish success stories so far, the first real dose of disappointment has been suffered by Russell Knox when the Inverness man agonisingly missed out on securing a spot in this year’s Open Championship.

Playing in the US International Final Qualifying (IFQ) at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, Texas, the 26-year-old forced his way into a four-man play-off for the final three spots up for grabs in the event for Royal Lytham after posting scores of 65 and 66 to finish on nine-under.

American duo James Driscoll and Bob Estes and Sweden’s Daniel Chopra were the others involved in the shoot-out, with Estes the first to secure his ticket to Lancashire in July as he made a birdie at the par-4 first. A brace of pars at the par-3 17th then proved good enough for Driscoll and Chopra to grab the remaining two places, meaning Knox missed out on a first appearance in the world’s oldest major.

It was a brave effort nevertheless from the PGA Tour rookie, who has started to find his feet on that circuit recently after earning a step up from the Nationwide Tour last season.

Swede Henrik Stenson, who has twice been third in the Claret Jug joust in the last four years, also missed out as Harris English, a member of the American side that lost in the Walker Cup at Royal Aberdeen last year, produced a stunning performance to win the latest of the IFQ events for Royal Lytham.

The 22-year-old from Georgia, who beat Banchory’s James Byrne 2 and 1 in the second-day singles at Balgownie, booked his place in July with rounds of 60, which included six successive birdies in a front nine of 29, and 63 to beat England’s Greg Owen by four shots. “I kind of lost track of how many I made,” said Harris of his birdie blitz. “I was relaxed. I had some fun. It’s awesome. I told my parents and my agent that I really, really wanted to play in the British Open, so I came here today with that goal – and here I go.”

Owen played in the last Open at Lytham in 2001, when he had an albatross in one of his rounds and led for a while before finishing joint 23rd behind David Duval. The US-based Mansfield player secured his return by adding an afternoon 61 to his opening 66 to finish 13-under.

“It was just a good round where everything just kept going the right way,” he said. “I haven’t had a round like that in years.”

Joint third on 10-under were Canadian Stephen Ames, Argentina’s Andres Romero, who led with two holes to play at Carnoustie in 2007 before finishing 6-5, and American unknown Justin Hicks.