📰 Why maiden PGA Tour win hit Fox harder in PGA Championship locker room

By Christopher Reive

Life comes at you fast.

This time last week, Ryan Fox was preparing for the last tournament in a stretch of four in a row; anything but a win would mean a week off would follow.

A strong week, a late charge, a memorable chip-in and Fox’s plans changed dramatically – for this week and the rest of the year – as he hoisted his first PGA Tour trophy at the Myrtle Beach Classic in South Carolina.

This week, after earning one of the two remaining spots in the PGA Championship field at Quail Hollow in North Carolina, the Kiwi heads into the second major of the season on the back of an unusual preparation.

“It’s nice to be in the field. It’s probably a slightly different preparation for a major than what I’d normally have. You kind of get a little bit of notice and try to peak for it and try to get prepared properly, and this has kind of been the opposite,” he told the Herald.

“I’m pretty physically and mentally tired after last week. This is now my fifth week in a row. I was looking forward to a week off this week, but it’s obviously really nice to be here and to get a chance at a major, especially coming in off some pretty good form.

“It’s pretty cool walking around the locker room today, I just had so many people come up and say ‘well done’ and stuff like that. When you’re hearing that from some of your peers and some of the best players in the world, it probably hit home a little harder today than maybe what it did yesterday.”

Generally, two days out from a major, Fox would like to have 18 holes – if not 27 – under his belt. However, stormy weather has limited him to just one hole yesterday – which he didn’t finish due to a lightning strike in the carpark.

That said, Fox admitted it had been nice to have a couple of quiet days on the back of arguably the most important win of his career to date.

“There’s a lot riding on it coming down the stretch, you are so focused and I think mentally, it takes its toll far more than it does physically. I think the physical part for me is more just [that] I’ve played a lot of golf in the last two to three months.

“That whacks you a little bit, but mentally, I just ... needed it a little bit to refresh. I didn’t sleep very well on Sunday night; I think a lot of that’s down to adrenaline as well. It’s pretty hard to sort of calm myself down enough to get to sleep - even though I tried hard to knock myself out. It’s just [that] it’s draining.

“There’s a reason it’s pretty hard to back up sometimes after a win, it does take a lot out of you.”

He eventually got through 18 holes overnight, playing a practice round solo. He got out on the course early to match his round one tee time and also to avoid a long round with some practice rounds taking more than six hours.

With the win earning Fox a PGA Tour spot for the next two years, it gives him more flexibility with the tournaments he enters this year and he can now play some in Europe or even the Australian Open in December without having to worry about missing out on FedEx Cup points.

Those details will all become clearer over the coming weeks for the 38-year-old, who was simply focused on the task at hand this week.

The 156-strong field for the PGA Championship faces a strong golf course in Quail Hollow this week. While it favours longer hitters, accuracy is crucial as well, with tight fairways and plenty of trouble around in trees, bunkers and the odd water hazard.

After heavy rain and thunderstorms ruined the chances of practice rounds earlier in the week, Fox expected the course would be soft in the fairways for round one, though given the greens have a SubAir system – designed to remove moisture and regulate the playing surface – they would likely still be firm.

Fox will be among the first players to tee off when the PGA Championship begins late on Thursday night (NZT). Playing alongside American Justin Hicks and Englishman John Parry, Fox will be in the first group off the 10th tee.

“I haven’t put too much thought into it. I like the first tee time in the respect that you’re at least going to get nine holes where the pace of the play is really good, so I’m looking forward to that side of it. You get really good greens as well.

“I haven’t looked at the weather, so I don’t know if there’s going to be an advantage on either side of the draw, but, yeah, it is what it is.

“Hopefully, I can just get out of my own way and shoot a couple of good scores those first two days.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.