Knox playing with ‘hero’ at Carnoustie

Russell Knox admits that it does not get much better than to play with his hero Tiger Woods at this week’s Open Championship.

Knox will tee it up with the 14-time major champion and Japan’s world number 16 Hideki Matsuyama for the first two rounds at Carnoustie as the year’s third major gets under way.

The Scot will be hoping to keep up an impressive run of form that has seen him share 12th place at the US Open and finish joint-second at the Open de France before winning the Irish Open.

The 33-year-old Inverness-born star is now up to 49th in the rankings and has set his sights on making Thomas Bjorn?s European Ryder Cup team, but for now, just being in the same group as Woods is enough.

“It has been an amazing couple of weeks for me – almost winning a tournament, winning a tournament, contending at the Scottish Open and then getting to play with your hero,” he said.

“I watched him win the Masters in 1997 when I was about 12. He is the reason why I played golf probably, just watching him dominate for years.

“I’ve played in his tournament in the Bahamas, which was great, but to play with him is amazing, to play with him at a major is even more amazing, to play with him in a major in my own country is even more amazing. It’s pretty cool.”