Scotland's Knox holds off world-class field for WGC title

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Russell Knox of Scotland and his wife Andrea pose with his trophy after winning the WGC tournament in Shanghai.

Shanghai - His final round four-under par 68 at the $8.5 million WGC-HSBC Champions gave him a total of 268, 20-under par.

By AFP

Published: Sun 8 Nov 2015, 11:00 PM

Last updated: Mon 9 Nov 2015, 11:31 AM

Russell Knox became the first Scotsman ever to win a World Golf Championships event when he held off a world-class field for a two-stroke victory in Shanghai on Sunday.
His final round four-under par 68 at the $8.5 million WGC-HSBC Champions gave him a total of 268, 20-under par. Kevin Kisner of the US was second on 270, while English pair Danny Willett and Ross Fisher tied for third a further stroke behind. Knox started the day at 85th in the world golf rankings and could now move into the top 30 when the new standings are announced on Monday. The 30-year-old from Inverness, who is based in the United States and plays solely on the US PGA Tour, still had to play the final hole of his third round early Sunday after walking off in bad light after dusk on Saturday at Sheshan International Golf Club. It proved a timely decision as, with weather conditions more benign, he picked up a birdie four to move into a share of the lead. He carried the momentum through to the final round to card six birdies and two bogeys en route to his maiden victory and the $1.4 million winner's cheque - by far the biggest pay day of his career.
"It sounds unbelievable but I always kind of thought I was going to win a big one for some reason as my first one," said Knox, referring to the fact that the four WGC events rank second only to majors on the golf calendar and the WGC-HSBC Champions is known as "Asia's major". "I've been close a few times before. But this is going to take a long time to sink in."
Jordan Spieth had charged into contention on Saturday with a nine-under round of 63 but could not back it up in cooler conditions Sunday. He finished with a two-under 70 for a share of seventh place on 15-under par along with Chinese 20-year-old sensation Li Haotong.
Masters and US Open champion Spieth will at least have the consolation of moving back to world number one in the new rankings Monday, leapfrogging Australia's Jason Day who skipped Shanghai to be at the birth of his second child. "(Getting back to number one) was certainly a goal coming into this week," Spieth said after his round.

268 - Russell Knox (SCO) 67-65-68-68
270 - Kevin Kisner (USA) 64-66-70-70
271 - Danny Willett (ENG) 65-74-70-62, Ross Fisher (ENG) 69-69-65-68
272 - Branden Grace (RSA) 63-71-70-68, Dustin Johnson (USA) 65-71-65-71
273 - Matthew Fiztpatrick (ENG) 68-69-69-67, Patrick Reed (USA) 65-70-68-70, Li Haotong (CHN) 66-69-66-72, Jordan Spieth (USA) 68-72-63-70
274 - Daniel Berger (USA) 68-71-69-66, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 68-72-68-66, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 69-72-66-67, Marc Leishman (AUS) 69-72-65-68, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 72-68-66-68, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 68-70-68-68
275 - Rickie Fowler (USA) 68-72-68-67, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 70-66-69-70
277 - Hunter Mahan (USA) 68-68-71-70, An Byeong-Hun (KOR) 69-68-68-72, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 64-74-66-73, Scott Hend (AUS) 68-69-67-73
278 - Paul Casey (ENG) 67-72-71-68, Thomas Pieters (BEL) 67-71-71-69, Gary Woodland (USA) 69-71-73-65, Harris English (USA) 67-71-70-70.

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