Golf: Fox hopes NZ Open will aid prospects

Ryan Fox

Ryan Fox is still searching for that big score.

The Kiwi golfer has played professionally since the start of 2012 but is still trying to establish himself on the international stage and find a full-time playing schedule on a major tour.

He holds a card on the PGA Tour of Australasia - he earned A$50,051 ($54,188) from 13 starts last year - but has limited status on the OneAsia Tour, while he is hoping to qualify for the new PGA Tour China next month.

Fox knows a win at next week's revamped NZ Open at The Hills and Millbrook Resort would be career-changing for him and give him an opportunity to gain some starts on the lucrative Japan Golf Tour given a formal partnership exists between the tournament and the Japanese circuit.

The 27-year-old has claimed a collection of minor wins such as the Fiji Open (2012 and 2013), the Tahiti Open in 2012 and the Jeep Pro-Am in Queensland last year but none have provided the springboard he needs to take the next step.

While being a professional golfer can be a glamorous gig when you don't have a full year of starts - the PGA Tour of Australasia takes a lengthy break during the winter - it can be a daunting prospect thinking about where you're going to play to earn enough money.

Fox, the world No 468, said it wasn't something you could sweat on.

"You've just got to put it out of your mind. Say for me in Aussie I know I'm guaranteed all the starts for the year. It's just OneAsia that's a little up in the air and you've sort of just got to take that early on.

"That's part of being a pro. When you're an amateur, you know if you're going to get in to an event or not but as a pro it's just based on categories and you might have an idea and that changes year to year.

"So when you're starting out at the bottom a little bit you just take whatever starts you can get. If you have to get up there on a Wednesday and don't play a practice round, you've just got to go with that."

Fox had a decorated amateur career in New Zealand and his third year as a professional has started encouragingly. He claimed a share of 16th place at the Victorian PGA Championship two weeks ago and finished second at the Queensland PGA Championship in Toowoomba last weekend.

"I hit it really good last week for the most part and got the putter to work," Fox said. "I felt like I probably did enough to win but Anthony Summers played fantastic in the last round and I just got beaten by someone playing better golf."

Fox had a setback in his preparation for next week when he missed the cut at the Victorian Open yesterday. Now he will turn his attention to the NZ Open where a purse of $900,000 looms as an enticing prospect. This year's tournament, which will take on a pro-am format, will see each player tee up a round at The Hills and the nearby Millbrook.

Following the cut, the final two rounds will be played at The Hills.

"It's a great place to play, not just the Kiwi guys but all the pros look forward to going down to Queenstown," Fox said. "It's probably the best place we get to play all year."

No Kiwi has won the national open since Mahal Pearce triumphed at Middlemore in 2003.