Russell Knox yesterday fired a final-round four-under 68 to win the WGC-HSBC Champions event on his World Golf Championships debut — the Scot finishing two shots clear of Kevin Kisner at the Sheshan International Golf Club.
The only player not to complete his third round in fading light on Saturday, Knox returned to the course early yesterday and birdied the par-five 18th to join American Kisner at the top of the leaderboard after 54 holes.
The 30-year-old then used some supreme wedge play to offset two bogeys with six birdies on his way to a 20-under 268 total to become the first Scot to win a WGC event and also the first debutant to claim victory since Jeff Maggert in 1999.
Photo: AFP
“China is now my favorite place in the world,” Knox said after recording his maiden US PGA and European Tour triumph. “I cannot wait to come back here. For me, this now my favorite golf course and I am over the moon.”
“It sounds unbelievable. I always kind of thought I was going to win a big one, for some reason, as my first one. I have been close a few times before, but yes, it is going to take a long time to sink in,” added the Florida-based Knox.
Kisner again fell agonizingly short of claiming a first PGA Tour victory after signing off with a 70 to register his fourth runner-up finish of the year, the other three all coming in playoffs.
Danny Willett finished with the best round of the week, firing 10 birdies in his impressive 62 to join fellow Briton Ross Fisher (68) in a tie for third on 17-under and maintain his pursuit of Rory McIlroy in the European Tour Race to Dubai.
“It is special shooting 62 at home with the lads. It is always nice, but in a World Golf Championships on a Sunday when it means something a bit more, obviously it is that little bit more special,” the 28-year-old said.
World No. 3 McIlroy, who struggled with food poisoning at the start of the week, ended his tournament with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a 66 as the Northern Irishman finished just outside the top 10 on 14-under.
Jordan Spieth, who sizzled with a 63 on Saturday, carded a disappointing 70 to tie for seventh on 15-under, but the American has the consolation of leapfrogging absent Australian Jason Day at the top of the world rankings today.
SANDERSON FARMS
Reuters
The PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship is headed to finish today after only 39 minutes of play in the second round in Mississippi on Saturday.
Torrential rain left the already soggy Country Club of Jackson in an almost unplayable condition.
American Roberto Castro, who shot a 67 on Friday for a 15-under 129 total, holds a four stroke lead over compatriot Bryce Molder (67) and Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas (67).
Second-round play was halted at 11:09am on Saturday with 76 players — more than half the 132-man field — still to complete the round.
Play was scheduled to resume at 7am yesterday, and a favorable forecast suggested there would be no more delays.
“We should be able to start round three somewhere around 12.45pm ... play a couple of hours before sunset and then come back on Monday morning to finish round three,” PGA Tour rules official Steve Carman told Golf Channel.
“We will keep them in the same groups, so will start round four before we finish round three. Last group will hopefully tee off in round four somewhere about [11am today] and five hours later we will be done.”
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