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As the sole Scots on the PGA Tour, it makes perfect sense that Russell Knox and Martin Laird should team up for this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
The event is a welcome departure from the usual 72-hole individual strokeplay competitions that make up most of the tour’s schedule and was won last year by Sweden’s Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith of Australia.
This year’s event, at TPC of Louisiana, will also feature walk-on music for the first time.
All of the teams who make the cut will be introduced onto the first tee over the weekend to the tune of a track that they’ve specifically chosen – and, on the latest Secret Golf podcast, hosted by his sister Diane, Russell Knox revealed what he and compatriot Laird have picked… and, given their homeland, it couldn’t be more appropriate.
The duo will walk out to… wait for it… the Scottish national anthem ‘Flower of Scotland’.
Not just any old version of it, either. They’re going with an acoustic, bagpipe-only version.
Yes, really.
“I picked it,” Russell told the podcast. “We were both not overly concerned about picking a song so Martin left it to me and I was like, ‘You know what? We’re both Scottish – it has to be some kind of bagpipe music’.
“I went onto Google, typed in ‘bagpipe music’ and the first thing that came up was a bagpipe version of ‘Flower of Scotland’. I was like, ‘Perfect!’ It’s straight-up bagpipes.”
Knox also revealed that he had a contingency all lined-up, too.
“The second choice was going to be ‘500 Miles’ by The Proclaimers,” he added. “That would have been decent. There was talk of some Braveheart music, too, but that’s pretty slow so I decided on ‘Flower of Scotland’. You play that at a rugby match and it pumps everybody up so there’s no reason why it can’t pump up Martin and I, too.
“Obviously, we’re the only two Scottish players on the PGA Tour, so people are going to expect good Scottish music from us and we’re going to pull through with some good old bagpipes. We’re looking forward to it.”
The trouble with ‘Flower of Scotland’ is that it divides opinion. Some Scots love it, some absolutely don’t.
So, we had a think about some other Scottish classics Knox and Laird could have rocked up to.
Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out
The Fratellis – Chelsea Dagger
Primal Scream – Rocks
Twin Atlantic – Heart And Soul
Frankie Miller – Caledonia
Or best of all…
Billy Connolly – The Welly Boot Song
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