GULLANE, Scotland (AP) An 11-hour sleep and a hearty Scottish breakfast sparked the latest impressive round in Russell Knox’s glorious summer of golf, putting him in contention to seal back-to-back wins on the European Tour at the Scottish Open on Saturday.

Knox mastered the windiest conditions of the week over the Gullane links to shoot a 4-under 66 in the third round, leaving him two strokes off surprise leader Jens Dantorb (68) and one behind a six-way tie for second place in the event used as a tune-up for next week’s British Open.

The Scotsman doesn’t want this summer to end. After placing 12th at the U.S. Open last month for his best finish at a major, Knox was runner-up at the French Open and then won the Irish Open last week thanks to consecutive 40-foot birdie putts on the 72nd hole and first playoff hole.

Now, he’s got a great chance to win his home championship, a week before heading to the British Open also in Scotland. There’s also potentially the not-so-small matter of..

Much has been said about the lack of shotmaking required on the PGA Tour, with many of the courses on the schedule calling for bomb and gouge rather than using the ground to your advantage. It's why this European Tour stretch of the French, Irish and Scottish Opens is always so fun to watch, as many of the world's best face firm and fast conditions they aren't used to as they prepare for the Open Championship.
RELATED: Euro pros try to hit 2-yard fairway to delightful results
For an extra challenge, the European Tour had players take on “The Hickory Challenge” at Gullane Golf Club during a practice round at the Scottish Open earlier this week. At the 180-yard par-3 12th, each pro was given a choice of hickory clubs, or “bootah knives” as Danny Willett hilariously describes them in the video below. The results were a bit mixed, and it made for a fun watch, which came as no surprise considering the Euro Tour's content game is always very strong:
https://twitter.com/Eu..

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) A capsule look at the seven previous British Opens held at Carnoustie:

Year: 1931

Winner: Tommy Armour

Score: 296

Margin: One shot

Runner-up: Jose Jurado

Prize: 100 pounds

Summary: Armour, a Scot who had emigrated to the U.S., was five shots behind Jurado of Argentina going into the final round when he closed with a 71 for a one-shot victory. Jurado was two shots ahead until a double bogey-bogey-bogey finish, topping a shot into Barry Burn on the 17th hole. Armour became the last Scot to win the British Open in his native land until Paul Lawrie took advantage of a collapse at Carnoustie in 1999.

—

Year: 1937

Winner: Henry Cotton

Score: 290

Margin: Two shots

Runner-up: Reg Whitcombe

Prize: 100 pounds

Summary: Cotton, the `34 Open champion, was three shots behind Whitcombe going into a last day that featured such wet and miserable weather that play was nearly called off. He opened with a 74 and improved his score by one stroke each day, closing wi..

The scenes were nothing alike and wildly memorable.

Both started with a tee shot that sailed some 60 yards to the right during the final round of the British Open, and that’s where the similarities end.

Seve Ballesteros didn’t have to take a penalty drop from near the front tire of a black car in a parking lot at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. He had a two-shot lead, and once he dropped his ball away from the cars, he had a short iron onto the green. The great Spaniard went on to capture his first major championship in 1979, and he was jokingly referred to as the ”Car Park Champion.”

Jordan Spieth?

He became the ”Driving Range Champion” at Royal Birkdale, and it was no joke.

Spieth already had lost his three-shot lead in the final round last year when his drive on the 13th hole flew well to the right toward the dunes, hit a spectator in the head and wound up in a bush. Spieth had no shot, and really no place to drop that improved his chances. His best option was to go back to the tee a..

Tom Coyne discussed his book and thoughts on Scotland with Golf Digest as the sport turns its attention to the homeland of golf.

SILVIS, Illinois (AP) Michael Kim took a four-shot lead Friday at the John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities, which was suspended twice because of weather concerns.

Kim, who is winless in 84 career PGA Tour starts, was 16 under through 35 holes, with the second round to be completed Saturday morning.

Kim birdied eight of his first 14 holes without a bogey to race past first-round leader Steve Wheatcroft, who shot 68. Wheatcroft was 12 under along with David Hearn (64) and Johnson Wagner (66).

Francesco Molinari was 11 under along with Matt Jones and Bronson Burgoon, who made two eagles on Friday and was 8 under for the round with three holes to play.

The 24-year-old Kim, a former standout at Cal, Kim, pushed his lead to three shots by hitting a wedge from 111 yards to within 5 feet for birdie on the par-4 13th.

Kim, who had missed the cut in 14 of 22 starts this season, followed that up with a 13-footer for birdie on the par-4 14th.

Hearn has had an up-and-down year, missing eight..

WHEATON, Ill. (AP) Laura Davies and Trish Johnson had a talk about avoiding double bogey at Chicago Golf Club in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.

Neither could do it, but Davies and Johnson recovered from rough spells early in their rounds on Friday to share the lead at the midpoint of the first U.S. Golf Association championship for women 50 and older. Both stand at 4-under par 142 heading into the weekend.

”I said to Laura yesterday, you have a chance to win if you don’t make doubles,” Johnson said. ”And of course, I made a double today and you’ve got to keep those off your card.”

Davies slipped back to even par for the tournament with her double-bogey at No. 11 after starting on the back nine. She fell back to par again later on her first nine before running together a stretch of four birdies in six holes to finish with her second straight 71.

”I had a bit of a rude awakening on my second hole,” Davies said. ”Three-putt for a double bogey, so that was a nasty start.”

One of the lo..

SYLVANIA, Ohio (AP) Brooke Henderson has struggled in her past two appearances at the Marathon Classic.

The 20-year old Canadian finds herself tied for the lead after two rounds of the tournament following a bogey-free 5-under par 66 on Friday to move into a tie with Caroline Hedwall. Both are at 9-under 133 through 36 holes.

”It’s just fun to be in contention again and to see your name at the top of the leaderboard, it’s exciting, and hopefully good things will happen,” Henderson said.

Henderson, who won earlier this season in Hawaii and has six career victories, missed the cut last year at Highland Meadows and finished tied for 38th in 2016.

She shot a 3-under 31 on the front nine and then birdied the final two holes, both par 5s, to move into a tie with Hedwall.

”To finish birdie-birdie was really important, and it’s fun to see your name at the top,” Henderson said. ”I’m excited to be in the final group.”

Hedwall, who played in the morning on Friday, is looking for her first L..

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Nev. (AP) San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski took the lead with 25 points, and former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer was at 24 points after the first round of the American Century Championship on Friday.

Twelve players were within seven points of Pavelski in the modified Stableford scoring event, including baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz (21), Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry (18), former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (18), Denver Broncos quarterback Case Keenum (18) and actor Alfonso Ribeiro (18).

The scoring system awards six points for eagle, three for birdie, one for par, zero for bogey and minus-two for double bogey or worse.

Pavelski, who has spent his entire 12-year NHL career with San Jose, is making his third appearance in the event. He finished 10th in 2016 and tied for 12th in 2017.

Three-time defending champion Mark Mulder finished eagle-birdie-birdie, worth 12 points, and was in a group at 16 along with Green Bay Packers quarterback A..

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) Scott Parel walked off the course thinking somebody would overtake him. Instead, he’s halfway to his first PGA Tour Champions victory – and it happens to be a major.

Parel grabbed a one-stroke lead in the Constellation Senior Players Championship, shooting a 6-under 66 in Friday’s second round to reach 11 under.

The 53-year-old Parel made seven birdies after starting the day two shots off the lead.

”I’ve been playing good golf, right there in contention a lot of times,” he said. ”And that helps. The more you’re up there, the more comfortable you are. If you do it once every few weeks, then maybe you get a little bit uncomfortable. But I feel good right now.”

Parel remained in the lead when Jeff Maggert three-putted from about 15 feet to bogey the par-4 18th. That left Maggert (68) tied with Brandt Jobe (67) at 10 under in the fourth of five majors on the tour’s schedule.

Three-time champion Bernhard Langer (67), defending champion Scott McCarron (68), Kenn..