Ryan Fox battled through illness in his last tournament in Dubai. Photo / Getty
Ryan Fox battled through illness in his last tournament in Dubai. Photo / Getty
Ryan Fox was happy to still claim a top 20 finish at the Dubai Desert Classic on Tuesday after fighting through illness during the final round.
The Kiwi world No 30 was five shots behind eventual winner Rory McIlroy after a strong third day, but a stomach bugcurtailed any hope for a final round push on as he faded to a tie for 20th.
Fox said he was “really struggling” throughout the final round and was glad he managed to finish the tournament at all.
“I didn’t eat anything. I was just drinking water,” Fox told the Herald. “Without going into too much detail, I can be thankful there was quite a lot of toilets on the golf course. Yeah, it was ugly. I’m not quite sure how I made it around at times.
“I spent a lot of time lying down, a lot of time pulled over and was just really struggling. And to be honest, one over was probably better than I could have ever hoped for the day.
“Literally my goal for the day was to just actually finish and that was looking pretty dicey at times. So to still get in the top 20 last week and not do a lot of damage in that last round, considering how I was feeling, was actually pretty good.”
Fox admits he is still not quite 100 per cent ahead of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in Abu Dhabi, which kicks off later today, but says he’s ready to go.
“It’s getting there. I don’t think I’m quite 100 per cent yet, but at least I’ve had a couple of meals the last few days and managed to make it on the pro-am [yesterday] relatively unscathed.
“Stomach bugs are not fun at the best of times, let alone trying to walk 10k and play a golf course. The body copped a beating and I’m sure it will still take a couple of days to get back to 100 per cent, but certainly ready to go.
“I’ve had to manage the energy levels a little bit better this week than maybe I would have in a normal week.”
Ryan Fox in action at the Dubai Desert Classic. Photo / AP
Fox won the second of the two consecutive DP World Tour tournaments played at the Al Hamra Golf Club in Abu Dhabi last year, and will be attempting a “half defence” of his title at the same course where he claimed his second victory on tour.
Fox, who will be teeing off in his first round alongside defending champion Nicolai Højgaard, said he hopes his knowledge of the course will pay dividends this week.
“Obviously I’m not technically defending ... but yeah it’s nice to be coming back to a place that I’ve won before and it brings back a lot of happy memories last year. I feel comfortable on the golf course.
“It’s probably a little different than last year. They’ll set it up a bit trickier, grown the rough up a bit, brought some of the fairways in and it’s playing a bit firmer and faster than last year. I think it’s going to be maybe not as low scoring as it was, but it’s certainly nice to come back to a familiar place.
“The few little changes and the condition they’ve got the course in is going to be great for the event. I’m sure there’ll be a worthy winner again and hopefully that’s me.”
