Russell Knox living the dream at Wentworth

Scotland’s Russell Knox believes he can make the leap from a former “head case” to a bona fide superstar as he targets a Ryder Cup debut in 2016.

Knox is relatively unknown on the European Tour after leaving his native Inverness to attend Jacksonville University on a golf scholarship, but his runners-up finish in the Irish Open on Sunday elevated him to a career-high 23rd in the world.

That and his victory in the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai last November also means there is a 60ft poster of Knox draped on the grandstand behind the 18th green at Wentworth, where the 30-year-old will make his debut in the BMW PGA Championship this week.

“It’s different for sure,” Knox admitted. “Even last week they had a little banner. I kind of joked to my wife and she took a picture of me standing next to it.

“This is what I’ve wanted. You have to sit back at night and think, ‘Hey, I want to be a superstar’. You’ve got to be ready for it.

“And then I’ve got the opportunity to play on the PGA Tour and out here on the European Tour, Masters tournaments. I have to see myself winning them, and winning lots of them hopefully.

“And in order to do that, there’s going to be pictures of you. People are going to want to watch you. You’re going to have to do stuff like this (press conferences). This is what I’ve always wanted. I’ve always dreamt of being a star and hopefully one day I will be.”

Knox has not employed a full-time coach since his college mentor Mike Flemming died in 2014 and practises far less than most of his contemporaries, but has worked hard on the mental side of the game.

“Just like everyone else I was a total head case on the course at one point,” Knox added. “I used to get so mad. I didn’t throw clubs, but I got internal rage. If I made a dumb mistake or had a couple of bad holes, my body temperature would rise and I would want to just snap every club in my bag.

“I’ve worked very hard at that. It’s extremely difficult. Since I’ve been a pro the difference between the top superstars and the guys who aren’t quite there, a lot of it is to do with their attitude.”

Knox was initially seventh reserve for the HSBC Champions and only found out he would be making his WGC debut at Sheshan International a few days before, forcing his wife Andrea to spend a day at the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur to arrange their visas while he competed in the CIMB Classic.

A final round of 68 secured the first prize of £900,000 and would have taken him top of the Ryder Cup standings if he had been a member of the European Tour, but although he cannot claim the points retroactively after paying the £500 fee to take up membership, he believes it will stand him in good stead if he misses out on automatic qualification.

“It’s a huge goal now,” said Knox, who is currently 17th in the world points list. “After I won in China, it was realistic to make the team, but at the same time, there’s still a lot to be done.

“Now I’ve finished second three times since that. I played good enough to be right up there at The Players Championship for 71 holes (he famously took nine on the 17th in the third round), so really I’ve had four really good tournaments since then and to be honest, I expect to make the team now.

“Arguably I’m higher up (in the points list) because my win didn’t count, but obviously (European captain) Darren Clarke knows that. At the same time, I won that tournament, and no one can take that away from me, so we’ll see where it ends up.”

Knox was among the Ryder Cup contenders invited to dinner with Clarke during the Players Championship, along with two-time BMW PGA Championship winner Luke Donald.

Donald became world number one for the first time by beating Lee Westwood in a play-off at Wentworth in 2011 and successfully defended the title 12 months later, but has struggled to produce that form on a consistent basis and comes into this week’s event ranked 76th in the world.

Asked if he believed he could get back to his best, the 38-year-old said: “Absolutely. I don’t think my game is that far off from where I was in 2011.”