Golf: Lee, Fox debut at St Andrews

When the Springfield Open was first held in Rotorua in 2007, little did anyone know that two of the players in the field would go on to play at The Open Championship at St Andrews one day.

Kiwi golfers Danny Lee and Ryan Fox teed off last night during the opening round of the 2015 Open Championship in Scotland at the famous St Andrews club.

The two players are making their debut at The Open this week and are the only Kiwis in the field.

Both players know each other from their days playing as amateurs in New Zealand including during the inaugural Springfield Open in 2007.

Rotorua's Mark Smith established the competition in 2007, which is now known as the Danny Lee Springfield Open, and said local lad Lee won it that year aged 16.

He said Aucklander Fox, son of All Blacks great Grant Fox, was already well known in the golfing community by then.

"Fox is a really strong player, he looks like he should be playing rugby rather than golf, he is a big, solid unit," Smith said. "He has progressed at a steady pace and last year he really started to have some good results on the pro ranks."

Fox qualified for The Open through a tournament in the UK recently. Meanwhile, Rotorua's very own Lee has been in the form of his life of late and qualified for The Open after winning The Greenbrier Classic on the PGA Tour two weeks ago.

Smith said that after Lee finished third at his latest PGA Tour event in Illinois, they spoke over the phone on Monday. Lee had already turned his attention to The Open.

Smith said Lee was at the airport within an hour of the event finishing on Monday and was flown straight to a military airbase close to St Andrews, with a couple of other topgolfers.

Smith said he would definitely be watching the pair this weekend.

"It is just good to see some mates doing well," he said. "Fox is posting pictures [on Facebook] with a lot of the top players, I saw a pic of him with Tom Watson this morning."

Smith said Lee wanted to return to Rotorua in the future.