Telfer's Thoughts

For the fifth time this year, in 9 starts on the USPGA Tour, Ryan Fox opened with a round in the 60’s.

His 5 under par 66 at the Byron Nelson in Texas was his best start from any of those 9 this year. So could this be the week Foxy finally converts a great start into a top 5 finish if not higher? That opening round of 66 saw him grab a share of 5th place on Day One. But what followed was an all too familiar pattern in 2025 as once again he failed to stay with the leaders on Day Two. Three mid- round bogeys and a 4th on the 16th saw him slip rapidly down the leaderboard. Fortunately he pulled a much-needed birdie on 18 that got him back to where he started the day on 5 under - exactly the cut mark.

Day Three brought more of the same - 4 mid-round bogeys before a blistering finish which saw him birdie 4 of the last 5 holes for a round of 70, 1 under par. Unfortunately it still left him near the bottom of the field.

By now any chance of a high finish had all but disappeared. Again his final round was littered with another 4 bogeys, partially offset by 3 birdies for a 1 over par 72 - the only round of the 4 over par. So, for sure, when you look at his rounds – 66, 71, 70, 72 - it’s hard to be too critical of his scoring, but the fact of the matter is, this was not a strong field by USPGA Tour standards as evidenced to a large degree by Scottie Scheffler’s winning margin of 8 shots. This tournament represented an ideal opportunity for Foxy to make some significant progress up the FedEx Cup points table. I’m sure he personally will be disappointed that he didn’t make a better showing. However the week did represent another cut made, the 6th from his last 7 starts, which suggests he’s not far off the kind of form we have seen from him in recent years.

All up he made 18 birdies over his 4 rounds in Texas. Unfortunately he also chalked up 13 bogeys. Now as fate should have it, if he had played the week without a bogey, those 18 birdies he had would have left him with 5th placing overall, exactly where he was at the end of his first round and a cheque for around NZ$500,000.

All of that just goes to show how deep and ruthless this Tour is. Have a couple of bogeys and your round goes into free fall as you tumble down the leaderboard.

We can’t leave Texas without a word about Scottie Scheffler’s week. His 8 shot winning margin is the highest winning margin since Rory McIlroy’s 8 shot win in the 2011 US Open. His 36 hole score of 123 is the second lowest in USPGA Tour history and his 4 round score of 253 equals the lowest winning score in US history. Is it any wonder he is the Number One ranked golfer in the world? And how fitting that his first win in 2025 should be in his hometown, on the very course where he made his professional debut as a 17-year-old, 11 years ago, with his sister on the bag as his caddie.