TELFER’S TAKE 21.9.26

Another week in the bubbling, hectic golfing life of Ryan Fox which means, these days, another six-figure pay packet, well US$252,000 to be precise, for finishing in a share of 6th place at the prestigious British PGA Championship.

It’s the new reality Foxy’s had to adjust to since winning the Open Championship last July. Every week he plays for a purse somewhere between US$10 and 20 million. Last week in the UK it was one of the smaller purses, just a mere US$9 million. It also meant fortuitously good pay packets for our two regular players on the DP World Tour, Daniel Hillier and Kazuma Kobori. Hillier pocketed US$62,000 for finishing in 36th place and Kobori US$27,000 for his 56th finishing spot.

However, it’s not all beer and skittles when you’re seen as one of the game’s elite, Ryan Fox’s newly found status. Opening up in a piece on the DP World Tour website last week, Ryan Fox admitted that the sheer number of requests he fields these days from sponsors, media and just ordinary golf fans wanting selfies and autographs has impacted on how much time he’d ideally like to spend on his game.

“It actually gets quite hard at the moment. It just feels like at the end of the day, I’m like well have I actually played any golf today. Geoff Ogilvy, who won the US Open in 2006, told me it will be hectic for the first 12 months but then it gets a bit easier, but you will have it for the rest of your life”.

Foxy did admit however, when he gets into a big tournament and playing in front of big galleries it still does get his juices going.

And that must have been the case at the British PGA Championship at the top-rated Wentworth course last week.

Of the golfers who finished ahead of him, five were Major Championship winners of late - JJ Spaun, Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Adam Scott and Aaron Rai.

And the aforementioned Geoff Ogilvy would have been heartened by Foxy’s four good rounds at Wentworth because Ogilvy is the captain of the International Team which takes on the powerful United States team for the Presidents Cup this week in Chicago. Foxy, as one of the highest ranked players in the 12-man International Team, will have a key role in both the 2 fourball days and the singles on the final day.

It’s the identical formula used for the Ryder Cup - 28 matches all up, which means 28 points. The winner is the team, like in the Ryder Cup, who can get to the magical 14 and a half points, the minimum number needed to win the Cup.

And a final thought this week… a few consoling words for Daniel Hillier, desperately trying to climb into the DP World Tour’s top 10 which earns him a playing card for the USPGA Tour next year.

He started the final round of the PGA Championship at Wentworth in 11 th place and then got off to a truly remarkable start in the final round with 2 birdies and an eagle in the first 4 holes. That saw him shoot up the leaderboard. He picked up a further 3 birdies from his remaining 15 holes but unfortunately, he also had two double bogeys. That saw him descend the leaderboard at the same rate he climbed it on the front 9. Eventually he had to settle for 36 th place but his DP World Tour standing is now 12. He has plenty of time over the next 6 weeks to climb into that top 10 though. Let’s hope he does.

Meanwhile on the US Seniors Tour, Kiwi Steve Alker looks like he’s trying to emulate Ryan Fox.

Alker finished second in the latest Senior event, the Pure Insurance Championship at the famed Pebble Beach course. Like Foxy, Steve is piling up cash every week. Sure, the pay cheques on the ’old boys tour’ aren’t anything like the ones cashed on the PGA Tour, but to date Steve Alker has won the best part of $20 million with 13 wins from his 4 years on the Seniors Tour. Not bad coin for a working man in his mid-fifties.

Steve was coming off wins in his last 3 starts. Mind you, the winner in this event at Pebble Beach was Zach Johnson. This is his first year on the Seniors Tour and he’s now clocked up 6 wins from his first 15 starts. Way to go Zach!