Knost: 'I knew I made the right decision' with career

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Colt Knost's final-round 65 in Fort Smith was the low round of his brief Nationwide Tour career. (Getty Images)

There was a little crooning taking place on the Nationwide Tour on Sunday about 90 minutes earlier than Sergio Garcia sang his PGA TOUR redemption song at THE PLAYERS Championship.

Although the stage wasn't nearly as grand, rookie Colt Knost beat El Nino, who defeated Paul Goydos on the first playoff hole for his biggest professional prize to date, to the punch when he blazed from behind to win the Fort Smith Classic presented by Stephens, Inc. by a shot over Darron Stiles. Ironically, the two champions sang similar verses, albeit with different melodies and meanings.

Knost was the first U.S. Amateur champion since Tiger Woods to skip his guaranteed trip to The Masters. (Getty Images)

COLT KNOST

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Garcia, second-guessed and over analyzed during a three-year winless streak, loudly announced his comeback with superb ball-striking and clutch putting on northern Florida's Atlantic Coast.

Knost, who did an eye-opening United States Golf Association double in 2007, winning the U.S. Amateur as well as the Public Links, announced his arrival as a professional in Arkansas with a lights-out putting performance.

Knost, 22, created a tsunami of second-guessing when he followed his head and heart by turning pro following his U.S. Amateur victory at Olympic Club in late August. By doing so, he respectfully declined invitations to compete in the 2008 Masters, U.S. Open and British Open -- as an amateur. Although Knost offered an extremely logical explanation for the career path he selected, his critics loudly declared him a village idiot for doing so, asking how dare he pass up the chance to play in this season's first three majors.

"I've played in six PGA TOUR events since I turned pro, four Nationwide events, and I've already gone through three stages of Q-School and got that experience,'' he said the week before the Masters. "I felt like that was a lot to give up. Golf is not one tournament. I'm trying to build a future in this game.''

What's more, what was Knost to do while waiting for those three opportunities? He graduated from SMU in May of '07. He would have been sitting on his hands for more than six months, waiting.

Look at Knost now.

His decision has been validated; the criticism put to rest with his first professional victory. He also knows he belongs. And with Sunday's first-place check of $99,000, he vaulted 37 places on the Nationwide Tour money list to seventh with a total of $140,315 in six starts. He is in solid position to remain among the Tour's 'The 25' and advance to the PGA TOUR in 2009.

"I'm doing all right,'' said Knost, who closed with a five-under-par 65, by three shots Sunday's best and seven better than the field's average. "I knew I made the right decision. Having a victory at 22 is very special and pretty exciting.''

The victory was heightened by a telephone conversation he had with his mom, LuAnne, prior to teeing off Sunday morning.

"She told me, 'Play well and give me a good Mother's Day present,' '' he said. "I just got off the phone with her. She's pretty excited too.''

LuAnne is likely to be even more excited when she receives a diamond bracelet from her son. As for Colt, he appreciates everything his mother has done for him in furthering his career.

Knost, whose father passed away when he was 2, came to golf at a relatively late age, giving the sport at try at the age 12 because a number of his friends played. He did not play competitively until he was 16 and did not play on the national stage until after he graduated from high school.

Knost's game took off after he began taking lessons from Randy Smith, the one-time swing coach of Justin Leonard. Lightly recruited, he said he was "fortunate'' to land a scholarship to SMU. His mother was there for him every step of the way, financing lessons, equipment and travel to amateur events across the country while he was still in college.

"I'm making a very good living and I can do some things to help my mom now,'' he said. "It's like it has been she and I in this together for a long time.''

One club in Knost's bag enhanced that living Sunday. It was Knost's putter, one he returned to after experimenting with a belly model.

"I really rolled the ball because that was the worst I hit it all week,'' said Knost, who thought he missed out on his chance at victory with a bogey on the 72nd hole.

But Stiles couldn't hold the lead after making a pair of bogeys and a double bogey on the final five holes. His consolation prize was second-place money which jumped him to the top spot on the money list with $207,132, an amount that likely locked up his return to the PGA TOUR.

That's Knost's goal as well. He failed to reach it in his first try at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament, but gained status on the Nationwide Tour, where he has learned his lessons well.

"I could always get by with my ball striking when I was an amateur,'' he said. "But everyone hits it well out here. I learned it's all about putting and the short game. And that's what I've really been working hardest on.''

Looks like it's paying off.