Telfer's Thoughts

With his spectacular come-from-behind win at the Myrtle Beach Championship, Ryan Fox has joined that most elite and exclusive of Kiwi golfing clubs, those golfers from this country who have won on the USPGA Tour.

The club comprised just 7 members prior to today. They now have an 8th member, Ryan Fox. It’s hard to know what will live longest in our memories - his overall victory or that stunning 17-metre chip in from off the green on the first hole of a 3-man sudden death play-off.

That one bold aggressive shot has changed Ryan Fox’s career. The rewards that will now tumble towards him are manifold, chief of which begins with his inclusion in the year’s next Major, this week’s USPGA Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, just a few hours’ drive from Myrtle Beach. He also picks up around NZ$1.2million in prize money for his Myrtle Beach win. His world ranking and FedEx Cup standings receive healthy boosts. He is now ranked inside the FedEx Cup Top 70. If he can stay there till season’s end, he’ll be eligible to play in the FedEx Cup play-offs where he could make millions if he plays well enough. We’ll also see him compete at the Open Championship this year. On top of all of this his win today gives full exemption for 2 full years on the USPGA Tour. Other doors will open to him as well.

That old saying “The rich get richer” certainly has application on the US Golf scene. Ryan will now be able to play in rich events, open only to the best players on the Tour. Essentially it means playing for a lot more money but with much smaller fields.

It was a classic Ryan Fox showing at Myrtle Beach. His win today, interestingly, followed a pattern evident in most of his wins on the DP World Tour, where he works his way almost anonymously through the first three rounds of a tournament, mixing solid and at times some superb golf, undone to some extent with a spread of bogeys. During his third round of 68, Foxy had no less than 6 bogeys - yes 6 bogeys in one round - but in true Foxy fashion he also nailed 9 birdies. Just remarkable stuff. With all that behind him he took to the final round a couple of shots off the lead, playing patient accurate golf through the first 9 holes, just a single birdie to show for his efforts, but significantly, no bogeys. So from this solid confident base he upped the tempo, continuing to find fairways which let him attack pins. His putter then started to kick in and the birdies began to flow, four of them on the back nine.

For me the crucial hole was the 17th , a par three measuring 165 metres. Foxy was now in a 4-way tie for the lead at -14. Here he hit one of his best shots of the day, firing the ball straight at an awkwardly placed pin position, delighted then (as we all were back here as well) to the see the ball come to rest 6-8 feet under the hole. Calm and relaxed he stepped up and drained the putt, then went on to safely par the tough par 4 finishing hole. Two of the golfers behind him, McKenzie

Hughes, a Canadian, and American Harry Higgs also got it to 15 under after 72 holes.

Then on the first hole of sudden death the “fox” from down under crashed the North American party with that stunning chip from just off the green, which, as Foxy admitted afterwards, never looked like missing and he was walking the shot in from 8-10 feet from the hole, knowing he had read the line perfectly and then hit it accordingly.

Many golfers of high esteem have to wait years before grabbing a win on this high-quality demanding Tour. To nab your first victory inside your first 2 years on tour is also remarkable.

Sure the Tour’s top 70 players were playing elsewhere in the latest Signature event, but let that not deflect from the size of Ryan Fox’s achievement. So he joins Sir Bob Charles, John Lister, Grant Waite, Frank Nobilo, Michael Campbell, Danny Lee, Craig Perks and Phillip Tataurangi who have won on the USPGA Tour. Of those 8 only Sir Bob managed to win more than once on that Tour. Who would bet now that Ryan Fox won’t join him as a double winner on that Tour?

Meanwhile in other parts of the golfing world, Lydia Ko finished 10th on the latest LPGA Tour in what looks like a rehearsal for the upcoming second Women’s Major of the year and Kazuma Kobori continued his excellent run of making cuts, this latest one, the Turkish Airlines Open. Although only finishing in a tie for 52nd place it nonetheless was enough to push him inside the all-important top 70 on this Tour and if, like Ryan Fox, Kobori can stay inside 70, he will be eligible to play in the equally rich end of season DP World Tour finale in Dubai. The rookie Kiwi has now made 9 cuts from his 12 starts on this Tour this year, a very good record considering he has probably not played any of the courses where he’s been making the cut