Last weekend Scottish golf had two reasons for optimism as we swiftly head towards the beginning of the 2012 season, and it was an encouraging pat on the back for myself (stemming from my article back in September, The Ryder Cup: Future Scottish Participants?). Two players featured in that column are the focal point of this piece, as they both hit the headlines for different, but equally significant achievements.
The first big cheer goes out to Russell Knox from Inverness, who secured his 2012 PGA Tour card after finishing in the top-25 of the Nationwide Tour money list (12th to be precise). Yes, if you don’t know him now you will next season, beginning with the Sony Open in Hawaii, at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu from January 12-15th.
The impressive fact about Knox is that beginning this season he had zero status on the Nationwide circuit, Monday qualifying for the Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae, California, back in April, going on to finish T2 in the event and instantly pulling in enough moolah to secure his playing privileges for the remainder of the season. He quickly moved from rags to riches, following up this runner-up place by capturing a win at the Chiquita Classic at TPC River’s Bend, Cinncinati, Ohio, by three shots over David Hurley III. Knox finished the season in the top-10 in greens in regulation and driving accuracy statistics and raked in total earnings of just less than $250K.
The future looks bright for Russell Knox and not only due to his precision play, sub-70 scoring average, or the cucumber-cool head on his shoulders. Last year’s Nationwide graduates accounted for five wins on this year’s PGA Tour. Keegan Bradley was one of those promoted, and from what I can remember, he didn’t do too badly (PGA Championship and Byron Nelson Championship winner) and he finished in 14th place on the Nationwide Tour list in 2010, two spots lower than Russell Knox this year.
The second cheer goes to Aberdeen’s Richie Ramsay. As I outlined back in September, there was never any question regarding the ball striking ability of the former U.S. Amateur Championship winner, currently 2nd and 7th in driving accuracy and greens in regulation respectively on European Tour statistics. It has always been his putting that was the proverbial ball and chain around his ankle, sitting a John Daly downwind tee-shot with a Molitor ball (remember those) away from the top of the performance list, located at 203rd in putts per round and 168th in putts per greens in regulation. My advice a couple of months back was for Richie to take a trip to California for a week or so to visit with putting guru Dave Stockton. Now, Ramsay didn’t go that route but he had looked at the stats and could clearly see where his deficiencies lay, and opted to put in significant time with Phil Kenyon, Yes! Golf’s putting consultant.
The transformation in the last few weeks has been nothing short of sensational, and last Sunday he picked up his second third place finish in consecutive weeks at the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama (the week before it was a T3 at the Castello Masters). His numbers over this period speak for themselves. Ramsay was 5th in putts per greens in regulation at the Castello Masters (1.675 average) and 15th (1.761 average) at Valderrama. Quite a change from the near bottom of the ladder position the entire season would suggest. In fact, if it hadn’t been for losing a ball on the 15th hole of the Andalucia tournament (a freaky and unfortunate story in its own right) and a resulting double bogey, he would’ve challenged Sergio down to the wire for the title. His finish did move him to 10th spot in the European Ryder Cup points list after the event.
All I can say is that if this putting trend continues there will be no stopping Ramsay as his driving accuracy and greens in regulation numbers have been solid all year.
Keep your eyes peeled on both the European and PGA Tours in 2012, and watch as Russell Knox and Richie Ramsay move Scotland a little closer to the success Ireland have been experiencing in recent years.