59 opportunity Knox for Russell

Scot posts magical number in Albertsons Boise Open on Web.com Tour

Scotland’s Russell Knox might not have won the Albertsons Boise Open on the Web.com Tour over the weekend but the Inverness-born golfer is unlikely to forget the tournament in a hurry.

That’s because the 28-year-old did something that only a handful of golfers have ever managed, carding a phenomenal 59 in round two.

Knox had eight birdies and two eagles in a scintillating 12-under-par round over the par-71 course at Hillcrest Country Club in Idaho. In doing so, he became just the fifth player in the history of the Web.com Tour – formerly the Nationwide Tour – to shoot the magical number, and the second in the space of a fortnight.

Afterwards, he reflected on his achievement and said he felt like he had a low number in him after failing to convert anything in his first round.

“That’s the way this stupid game works,” Knox said after following up a 30 on Hillcrest’s back nine with a 29 on the front. “You have a day like yesterday and hit nice putts, and they just don’t go in. Then the following day, they go in.

“It has a funny way of evening itself out. I kind of knew I had a decent chance of making some putts today. I didn’t realise I was going to make nearly everything.”

His epic round hung in the balance after he left himself a testing seven-footer for par on his final hole – the ninth – but he was adamant he wasn’t going to pass up the chance to become one of only a small smattering of players to break 60.

“I told myself I had no choice but to make this putt,” he said. “Missing wasn’t an option. I’d convinced myself that I’d already made it. It was right in the middle. Never in doubt.”

Knox’s previous low score on the Web.com Tour was a 63 in the second round of the 2011 BMW Charity Pro-Am.

Earlier this year, he matched his PGA Tour low with an opening 64 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Before coming to Boise, Knox had broken 70 in nine of his past ten rounds on the PGA Tour as he seeks to regain his card for the most lucrative circuit in golf.

Here’s his brilliant 59 card. N.B. Knox started on the tenth.

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor