Amazing recovery from triple bogey to victory for Ryan Fox

By Golfer Pacific editor, Paul Gueorgieff

A triple bogey on the last day of a major golf tournament is usually the end of a player’s winning chances.

And that’s exactly how Ryan Fox felt after racking up a seven on the par four third hole of the PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in England last month.

Fox had to play three from the tee after whacking his first shot out of bounds and there was no recovery, as he later recalled..

``Played the hole pretty badly from there as well and made bogey with the second ball,’’ Fox said afterwards.

``I thought I was out of the tournament, to be honest.’'

Fox consequently tumbled down the leaderboard and when he saw the likes of Tyrell Hatton and Jon Rahm having made good starts, he gave himself little or no chance.

``I saw Tyrrell had started well, I saw Jon Rahm had started well, and you know, if you're five or six back from those guys, it's going to be tough to claw back.''

But what was to follow was simply brilliant from Fox. He would go on to birdie eight of the remaining 15 holes and post a one shot victory in a historic tournament that carried a purse of $US9 million. The winner’s purse was about $NZ2.58 million.

Fox was delighted considering he has found the course difficult in the past.

``Basically I didn't miss a shot coming down the stretch from the third hole,’’ Fox said.

`` It's a pretty tough back nine at times and that's easily the best I've ever played it, socially, in a tournament, whatever, but to do it on a Sunday is tremendous.’'

Fox, 36, had finished third in the Irish Open the week before but otherwise the year had not been a good one, especially off the course.

``It's been a difficult year. Both my mother- and father-in-law were dying of cancer. Father-in-law passed away in June after a really short battle and that kind of whacked us pretty hard.''

Fox also had a stint in the United States on the PGA Tour this year..

`` I've done a lot of travel. I've played a bit in the states this year, and I think every time I've gone home, I've basically not touched my golf clubs. 

``There's just been so much going on at home.’'

Fox had family members on hand for the Wentworth event and he said that made a difference.

``To have the family up the last couple of weeks, a change of scenery has been fantastic. Just had a chance to refresh and it sort of made all the difference. Everything feels a bit more normal the last couple of weeks rather than just complete chaos.

``It's pretty cool to win with everyone around here watching absent my father-in-law, but I know he would be proud.’'

Fox had won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland last October and he said to win at the likes of St Andrews and Wentworth was amazing.

``Two iconic venues on the DP World Tour. You look at the list of names that have won on them, that's pretty significant, and to add my name to the list, especially this week is incredible.’'

Fox was asked when he thought he had a chance of winning.

``Probably when I birdied 14. Obviously I knew I was close but Tyrrell, every time I looked, Tyrrell was picking the ball up out of the hole. The (weather) conditions when we were on 14 were awful as well, and thought, well, if you can par into the house, I have a really good chance here.’'

Play was subsequently delayed but when it returned, Fox made a great recovery on No 15 from amongst the trees to finish 10 feet from the hole and sink the putt for birdie.

``That birdie on 15 made a massive difference. I think I had 172 metres and it was a nice punk seven iron. I had a perfect gap. It was framed nicely through the trees and came out exactly as I wanted it. It was a guess on the yardage but came out pretty good in the end.’’

The drama continued right through to the 18th. He found the left rough off the tee which denied him the chance to go for the green in two on the par five.

He laid up to about 100 metres but knocked his third shot to about six feet from the hole. His putt was on the mark and he raised a fist in delight as he could see the ball going in.