By Frank Pingue
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) – New Zealand’s Ryan Fox would have been fishing this week had he not secured a last-minute spot in the PGA Championship four days ago, but after making the most of the opening round on Thursday he could still reel in a major catch.
Fox, who earned his maiden PGA Tour win on Sunday when he chipped in from just outside 50 feet on the first playoff hole in Myrtle Beach, opened with a four-under-par 67 at Quail Hollow Club that left him in solid position.
“It’s amazing what finding a bit of confidence can do,” Fox said after mixing six birdies with two bogeys to sit in a share of fourth place, three shots back of leader Jhonattan Vegas.
“Like all of a sudden the bad shots that were irking me a couple weeks ago didn’t seem to matter quite so much today.”
What makes Fox’s opening round, which was played in sunny and steamy conditions, all the more remarkable is that it comes of the heels of four consecutive weeks of competition.
Had Fox not triumphed in Myrtle Beach to secure a spot in the 156-player field this week, he certainly had an idea how he would have spent his downtime ahead of the May 22-25 PGA Tour event at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
“I guarantee, I’d be going fishing at least once. Outside of that, you know, just being dad. This is five weeks in a row,” said Fox.
“So I would put the sticks down for five or six days and just relaxed and got ready for Colonial next week. But obviously it’s been a nice change to come here instead.”
Fox, whose best result at a major is a share of 16th place at the 2019 British Open, is the son of New Zealand All Blacks great Grant Fox, and after his opening round recounted some advice that his father gave him as a young child.
“The idea of it was, if you — like hard work beats talent. If you work hard to be the best you can be, you can live with whatever happens,” said Fox.
“But if you don’t do the work, there will always be that little thing in your head, the what if; what if I had done this differently or done this better. That’s what Dad drilled into me as a kid.
“I certainly learnt a lot off him growing up, and you know, he was — I think he’s incredibly proud. He was incredibly proud last week with the win.
“Yeah, very lucky to have that kind of experience growing up. He was on my bag a lot, too. Even though it’s a different sport, I gained a lot early on from that.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue; Editing by Michael Perry)
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