Ryan Fox has his sights set on joining the PGA Tour in 2024.
The New Zealand No 1's chances have been enhanced due to closer ties being forged by the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour.
In response to the threat posed by the new Saudi backed Liv Golf
Golf: Ryan Fox's plan to join PGA Tour after career-best form
Ryan Fox's world ranking has climbed from 213 at the start of the year to a career high of 56. Photo / Photosport
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Fox is seventh on the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) Order of Merit after a string of strong results this season and is a bit disappointed the change won't happen this year.
"Unfortunately don't think it matters for me this year. But it's still a big carrot to work towards," Fox told the Herald.
"I really like the decision they've made. It gives us some clarity and some guarantees going forward. Golf is in a pretty funny place."
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Fox gained his second Tour victory at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in the UAE before finishing tied for 15th and tied for ninth at two events in Spain in late April. He then finished tied for eighth at the British Masters followed by a runner-up finish at the Soudal Open.
The 35-year-old qualified for the PGA Championship where he finished 54th before losing a playoff to finish runner-up at the Dutch Open. After missing the cut at the US Open he finished third at the BMW International in Munich on Monday.
His world ranking has climbed from 213 at the start of the year to a career high of 56, earning $1.7 million this year.
So if he could replicate this season's form next year and crack the top 10 on the European Order of Merit in 2023 to gain a PGA Tour card, what would he do?
"I guess the ultimate would be able to do a bit of both. The top players in the world seem to be able to do that well enough, the Jon Rahm's of this world seem to contend on both order of merits every year. I'm a long way away from that but it would be the ultimate goal," Fox said.
However he's adamant initially at least he would have to abandon the DP World Tour if he gets a PGA Tour card.
"I know that first year, if you got a PGA Tour card, you'd want to focus completely on that, and try to get it and try to secure that. I think the tour understands that as well.
"And there might be some form of safety net, so guys can actually chase that card and not worry about losing the card back in Europe."
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The reality is he probably won't have to finish in the top 10 in the European standings to gain a PGA Tour card next season, with the likes of Rory McIlroy and Rahm among those perennially near the top of both money lists.
"That's a that's a pretty big goal to push for and what we were told yesterday, in previous years, that's gone down more towards 25 to 30, on the Order of Merit rather than then inside the top 10, which is very achievable."
Fox tees off tonight at the $5m Irish Open at Mount Juliet in Thomastown.
Despite finishing third in Munich on Monday morning, Fox was battling a cold and lost his voice over the weekend. While it didn't affect his game in Germany, he says he's been sluggish in practice.
"I haven't played well, in practice to be honest, I've been trying to sort of get over what I had on the weekend and trying to just get some energy back. I think the golf swing took a little bit of a beating. So I've been trying to work that out a little bit the last couple of days. Plus the Irish weather hasn't been helping that too much. We had about 50 kilometre winds and a whole lot of rain yesterday which wasn't conducive to very nice practising weather," Fox said.
"But the golf course is great. It's a Nicklaus golf course and every part of the game quite well. There's some pretty gnarly rough around here off the fairways and could be quite nasty this week."
