When Russell Knox beat a star-studded field, including the current world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, in Shanghai in November 2015, he became the first Scot to win a World Golf Championship event. Afterward, a writer asked Knox about his amateur career in Scotland.

“There weren’t many highlights,” Knox said. “I think I finished third in the Scottish under-21 championship or something. I wasn’t very good.”

Yet when Knox, 32, tees off this week at the Scottish Open at Dundonald Links in Troon, Ayrshire, he will be his country’s top-ranked golfer, at No. 46 in the world, and one of only two Scots, along with Martin Laird, competing on the PGA Tour. They are also the only Scots ranked in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

Scotland, long dubbed the home of golf, has failed to produce homegrown talent in the professional ranks. Scott Jamieson, 33, is the highest-ranked Scot on the European Tour at No. 287, and there are only 11 Scots in the World Golf top 500. In contrast, 11 Englishmen competed in the 93-man Masters field this April.