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DIANE KNOX: Maybe I’m getting too soft but it really does get cold in the Sunshine State


By Diane Knox

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Diane and her dad Mike at TPC Sawgrass.
Diane and her dad Mike at TPC Sawgrass.

In my last column, I wrote about great weeks – and last week certainly was one of those. It was a combination of work/golf-watching/brother-supporting at The Players Championship, the elite event on the PGA Tour schedule.

When you think of Florida, you think of sunshine. But the first few months of the year always bring some “varied” weather conditions. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were beautiful, and very typical of the Sunshine State – it was hot, sunny, humid and setting the stage for a week of great tournament weather around TPC Sawgrass. That was until you checked the forecast.

As play got under way on Thursday, the clouds moved in, the rain began to fall and the temperatures dropped. My brother Russell Knox was part of the field for The Players and had the first tee time of 6.45am on Thursday. But that was moved back to 7.45am due to the rain, and so began the influx of weather delays.

With 144 guys competing and 12 hours of daylight, cramming all the golf into four days is often a challenge even with ideal weather conditions. So as soon as the delays start, you know you’re in for a long one with a lot of disruption. Thankfully play got under way and Russell got all of his opening round in on Thursday, even with a four-hour break for a thunderstorm in the middle.

He was one of the lucky ones, because a large chunk of the field didn’t even get to hit a shot on Thursday and were immediately in catch-up mode. Friday brought 35mph winds and a lot of rain, so much so that the action didn’t resume until late afternoon with extremely tough conditions and a waterlogged golf course. It was a similar story for Saturday morning.

Months and months spent getting this course in the best condition it could ever possibly be in, and Mother Nature had other plans. The grounds crew were incredible, working all hours to try and get the turf playable, even out with their squeegees to move the water from the greens. The vendors, the fans, the players – it was a disappointing few days of constantly waiting for updates and attempting to stay dry! I’ve lived in Jacksonville for five-and-a-half years now and I had never seen rainfall like it.

But the skies cleared and Sunday was filled with golf, albeit in chilly temperatures. Nobody believes me when I say it gets cold here, but as we arrived at the course on Sunday morning it was a balmy one degree Celsius… and didn’t get above 10 degrees all day. I was so wrapped up my husband joked I looked like I was about to go skiing!

I say it’s my Scottish preparation for bad weather, but I saw a few Scottish fans out supporting Russell on Sunday wearing shorts! Maybe I’m just getting too soft these days.

The delays meant a Monday finish for The Players, and Monday was a day of celebration for Team Knox. A brilliant performance from Russell, and a climb up the leaderboard into a tie for sixth place.

I was so proud of him for the way he played in a week of chaos – but a week spent cheering for him, with the rest of my family, will always be a great week.


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