Russell Knox seals his place at Carnoustie

Russell Knox has spoken of his delight after securing a place in the Open Championship at Carnoustie in less than three weeks’ time.

With three spaces on offer at the Open de France for the highest finishers not already exempt, the 33-year-old fired a six-under-par 65 in the final round at Le Golf National – the joint-lowest of the day – to finish T2 and just one shot behind winner Alex Noren.

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“This was one of the huge goals coming over here, to try and play my way in,” said Knox, who now has four top 20s in his last six starts.

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“I’m thrilled. Obviously, you don’t want to miss an Open Championship in Scotland being a Scot so job done.

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“I’ve only played Carnoustie a couple of times, a long time ago. To be honest, I don’t know much about it other than it is extremely difficult. Obviously, I have watched previous Open Championships there and know the history, Paul Lawrie winning which was cool. I can’t wait, it’s going to be fun.

“I’m playing well and coming into form. I just need that big push in the summer to move up.”

Joining Knox at Carnoustie through qualifying via the Open de France were Julian Suri and Marcus Kinhult, while the quartet of Ryan Armour, Sung Kang, Abraham Ancer and Bronson Burgoon earned their spots at the Quicken Loans National.

Meanwhile, after news broke last week that Paul Lawrie would not be teeing it up in the Open Championship through injury, he has been replaced in the field by 2016 US Ryder Cup star Ryan Moore.