Russell Knox remains hopeful of European Ryder Cup wildcard pick
By Ali Stafford
Last Updated: 24/08/16 2:45pm
Russell Knox believes he has done all he can to be considered for one of Darren Clarke’s wildcard picks for Europe's Ryder Cup side.
Knox has won twice this season and also finished runner-up twice, but ended outside the automatic qualification place becauses his WGC-HSBC Champions victory did not earn him Ryder Cup points.
The Scot took up European Tour membership soon after that win in Shanghai and has since moved in to the world's top 20 after claiming the Travelers Championship title this month.
European captain Clarke will name his three picks on Tuesday, with Knox hopeful of being selected for Hazeltine.
"It's important but it's not the end of the world," Knox told reporters on Tuesday. "If he chooses not to pick me, I'm not going to sulk in the corner. He has every right not to pick me. He has every right to pick me.
"The great thing with captain's picks is that he can choose whoever he wants and I'll be okay with it. I feel like I've done everything I could do.
"I played my best. I made the commitment to join The European Tour so I was eligible. I played well. So I guess I've made my case and hopefully it's good enough.
"I won't feel like I'm a pick in a weird kind of way, because if my points would have counted at the WGC, I would have made the team comfortably.
"I'm lucky enough to get picked, I'll feel like ten people qualified and he picked two people, that's the way I'm going to look at it to take pressure off myself."
Knox would become the sixth Ryder Cup rookie on the team should he be selected, joining Danny Willett, Chris Wood, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Andy Sullivan and Matt Fitzpatrick.
The side already contains five of the 2014 winning team and three of the line-up from Europe's away victory at Medinah in 2012, with Henrik Stenson not expecting a negative impact from having a high number of first-timers.
"Even though there might be rookies on the Ryder Cup team, when you have someone that's the current Masters champion (Danny Willett), you don't really put them in the rookie category," Stenson said.
"They have all done well to get in that position and played really solid to automatically qualify.
"It's always good to have some fresh blood on there and I think we've got a strong team, despite having a lot of rookies."
Who will take the wildcard picks? Watch Darren Clarke's announcement live on August 30 on Sky Sports News HQ
