She was one of 21 women to play in all five events on the Asian Swing.
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Spieth shot a final-round 70 in Shanghai to finish five strokes behind victor Russell Knox, but will pass the idle Jason Day when the newest world rankings are released later today.
And for a few reason, he always thought whenever he got that first PGA Tour win, it was going to be a big one.
“I was quite calm, actually, way more than normal to be honest”, Knox said. “I’m not going to complain about the round but I felt like the way I played could have been 10 or 11 (under) for sure”. He was in Malaysia and had to scramble to get a Chinese visa, arriving in time for one practice round. Two years ago, his coach and mentor, Mike Flemming, passed away and the Scot had lost a hugely influential and inspiring figure. He’s been my inspiration and he taught me everything I know.
“I thought about him on the 18th when I had to tap in to win, and my eyes started tearing up”. “I owe her everything for this. I suppose it finally paid off”. It is a much needed boost. By his own admission, Knox never enjoyed anything remotely resembling a stellar amateur career, save the Four Day Open at Inverness.
Knox is not a member of the European Tour and so would be ineligible for next year’s showdown against the United States at Hazeltine next year unless he joins.
Now, Knox will rise to around 30th in the world and has banked a cheque for $1.4m.
“I don’t know if I ever would have guessed I would have been on the PGA Tour, winning a huge tournament like this”, Knox said. “Obviously it’s going to be a goal of mine to make the European Ryder Cup Team and this obviously springboards me to a place where obviously yesterday I was nowhere near”, Knox added. I have no idea where I stand on making the team or what I need to do. “But I look forward to finding out and giving it a run”.
Kevin Kisner’s birdie on the 72nd hole handed him sole second place.
McIlroy, who leads the European Tour’s Race to Dubai series, was eight shots adrift after his second 68 of the week.
Willet, who started the day way down the leaderboard tied for 25th, unloaded with 6-birdies on the front-9 and 4 on the back to finish with a blistering final round 10-under-62, good enough to put him into a tie for 3rd with fellow England golfer Ross Fisher.
Willett said: “This could be a very big result for me”. “It is special shooting 62 at home with the lads”.
Spieth’s 70 handed him a share of seventh.
McIlroy closed with a 50-foot birdie putt for a 66, ending a week in which his energy was low while recovering from food poisoning, and his putter was cold, as it has been since he returned in August from his ankle injury. “What I mean by that was if I went to a bigger school, I would have been completely overwhelmed and devastated how good the other players were in this country”.
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McIlroy will not feature in next week’s BMW Masters and if second-placed Willett can claim a top-25 finish there, he will usurp the Northern Irishman in the rankings ahead of the finale in Dubai. “That’s all I can do”.
