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Knost out from under scrutiny Thursday, May 8, 2008 By Harry King LITTLE ROCK - For most of the golf world, the final round of The Masters was Trevor Immelman's par putt on No. 11, Tiger Woods' miss on No. 13 and the lack of roars throughout the day. Colt Knost had a different take on that Sunday in Georgia. For him, the presentation of the green jacket was a liberating moment, no matter the recipient. Maybe now, he can compete in a golf tournament without somebody second-guessing his decision to turn professional. Knost had a spectacular 2007, winning the U.S. Amateur, the U.S. Amateur Public Links, and leading the U.S. to a victory in the Walker Cup. Only Bobby Jones in 1930 and Jay Siegel in 1983 had ever won three U.S. Golf Association events in one year. Because of those accomplishments, he had invites in 2008 to play in The Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open. No thanks, he said, and turned pro. You would have thought he turned down an audience with the pope. In October, he sat down with ESPN's Jason Sobel for "On the Hot Seat" and acquitted himself well. "I had nothing left to prove in amateur golf," Knost said. "I basically would have been putting off my career for a whole year." He made three cuts in four events on the PGA Tour last year, including two as an amateur, but the naysayers surfaced again after Knost tied for 85th in the final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School. Counting down to The Masters, The Golf Channel had a segment on Knost in which Brandel Chamblee said he understood the decision to pass on Augusta, but felt that Knost would have regrets down the road. The week of The Masters, Golf World magazine ran a Q and A with Knost. More than once, the young man from Southern Methodist University has said that he is confident he will participate in The Masters as a professional. "I went out as the No. 1 player in the world in amateur golf and closed it out by helping the U.S. team win the Walker Cup," he told Sobel. "I just felt like that was the ultimate highlight of my amateur career, and I didn't think it could get any better than that." This week, the 22-year-old is in The Fort Smith Classic at Hardscrabble Country Club. It will be his sixth Nationwide Tour of the year. So far, he's made four cuts, but has only one top 10 and is 44th on the money list with $41,315. Woods' three straight U.S. Amateur titles and his seamless transition to the PGA Tour created unrealistic expectations for Knost and the others. Matt Kuchar, the 1997 Amateur champion, is back on the PGA Tour after spending most of 2006 on the Nationwide Tour. As champion, he was followed by Hank Kuehne and David Gossett. Kuehne had a couple of seconds on the PGA Tour and Gossett won the John Deere Classic in 2001 when he was 22, but neither has done much in recent years. The 2000 champion, Jeff Quinney, was on the Nationwide Tour for three years before putting together a solid 2007 and an even better 2008. Bubba Dickerson is on the Nationwide tour and so is 2002 Amateur champion Ricky Barnes. Nick Flanagan, the 2003 champ, won three times on the Nationwide Tour last year and was Player of the Year. So far this year, he has made a half-dozen cuts on the PGA Tour, his best season. The '04 winner, Ryan Moore, is working on his third straight solid year on the PGA Tour. But, he has played in 76 Tour events without a victory. Barnes is in Fort Smith this week. So is Casey Wittenberg, runner-up to Flanagan in '03, and a bunch of others who can flat play. ------- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
