Ryan Fox with Steve Williams during the New Zealand Open in 2020. Photo / Photosport
Ryan Fox with Steve Williams during the New Zealand Open in 2020. Photo / Photosport
Ryan Fox will look to tap into the knowledge of Tiger Woods' former Kiwi caddie, Steve Williams, before he heads to Oklahoma next week for the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club.
The 35-year-old Auckland golfer has been confirmed in the final field for the second major of theyear after finishing tied for eighth at the British Masters and boosting his ranking four spots to 106, with the entry cut off being 112.
Fox is playing this week's European Tour event in Belgium before heading to Oklahoma and has revealed he may get in touch with Williams, who was on Woods' bag when he won the PGA Championship on the same golf course in 2007.
"Yeah, I won't do anything different to be honest," Fox told the Herald of his approach heading into the major. "I guess, maybe send an email to Steve Williams. I think he would have been there when Tiger last won it. So, I can get some ideas off Steve potentially, but not for the most part, I'll just turn up on the Monday and just get a feel of the place.
"I guess that's what we do every week, you know, turn up to a different golf course and figure out how to play it. And while a major is a bigger tournament, the general principle of it isn't really any different. Just go and try to figure out how to apply it as best you can and then see what happens."
Fox was ranked 211 before he won the Ras Al Khaimah event in February, which saw him jump to 119, causing him to reassess his goals during an eight-week break in New Zealand.
On his return to the Tour last month, Fox claimed two strong finishes in Spain (15th and ninth) and headed to the British Masters knowing another good result would see him secure a spot in the field for the PGA.
Ryan Fox in action at the British Masters. Photo / Photosport
Having achieved his goal, Fox said he was excited to have another shot at the major, with his best result at the PGA coming in 2018 when he finished in a tie for 27th.
"I'm very happy. It was one of those short-term goals to tick off when I came back. Obviously, it was not necessarily all on my hands. But I knew if I played well enough, I'd have a really good shot at getting in the PGA. And, you know, very happy I managed to do that and excited to get to Southern Hills next week."
Fox is sticking with his plan to play this week's Tour event in Belgium.
"I definitely like to play the week before and my coach and physio are going to be there as well so that makes it a bit easier for my preparation. I think I'd rather spend time with them and get everything right so there's nothing funky going on before going to the PGA. I'll be playing my fifth week in a row at the PGA but I've just come off eight weeks off."
While generally very happy with the way he is playing, Fox has identified the putter as the major work-on.
"The putter probably hasn't co-operated much the last couple of weeks. I'm more hoping that was to do with greens rather than my putting itself. The greens were a little bumpy last week and we had some grainy greens the week before in Spain, and I've always struggled on them. So hopefully it was just a couple of blips on the radar, and I'll have it back this weekend.
"The other thing is my golf swing is pretty close. I'd say 90 per cent of my shots are decent and then the odd funny one comes from nowhere and it hasn't been too penal the last couple of weeks. But not a major championship, those can be a bit more destructive so I've just got to tidy them up."
Fox says he should get to Southern Hills Country Club near Tulsa on Monday, having secured a seat on a charter flight after the tournament in Belgium this weekend which will give him the best chance to rest and prepare for the PGA Championship.
