Golf: Ryan Fox to battle world's best, and traffic, at US Open

Ryan Fox during a practice round for the US Open. Photo / Getty

Ryan Fox is confident of his chances at his first US Open — if he can get to the course on time.

Fox tees off at Shinnecock Hills early Friday morning, and he'll need plenty of time to prepare, after the players got a stark reminder of the chaotic New York traffic they'll be dealing with.

The 31-year-old Kiwi was late to his practice round today, delaying the progress of the pairing behind him — Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson.

"Today it was a bit nerve-wracking when I was stuck in traffic, late for my tee time, rolled up had to hit a ball in front of Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods. Luckily I hit in on the fairway," Fox told Newshub.

"But yes you get used to it, I guess it feels a bit more normal than it would have a couple of years ago."

Woods, whose solution to the traffic is to stay on his $20m super yacht close to the course, believes the mayhem could make somebody miss their tee time.

Fox's coach Marcus Wheelhouse also takes a cautious tone, saying it makes it difficult to prepare properly.

"It's pretty crazy, it has taken us three hours for what would normally take an hour. You need something that Elon Musk [SpaceX founder] is inventing ... or a helicopter," he told D'Arcy Waldegrave on Radio Sport.

"There's so many people coming to the event and there's only one road in and one road out. You're going to have to spend a bit of time sitting around at the clubhouse so you're actually sure that you're going to make it.

"You just have to prepare the best you can."

Despite the brief scare, Fox got through his practice round, and feels more at home in what will be his fourth major championship.

"Everything just feels a bit more comfortable, [but] that doesn't mean I'm going to play well or anything like that," Fox said.

"But it's nice just to be able to enjoy the experience a little bit more rather than my first couple where the nerves are there and everything feels like it's going so fast.

"This week I'm just here to play another golf tournament."

Fox comes into the tournament in decent form, having made the cut in his last four events, including claiming a tie for eighth at the Italian Open earlier this month. He is joined in the field by fellow Kiwi Tim Wilkinson, who is playing in his second major following his tie for 61st at the 2016 US Open.

Fox tees off at 4.30am on Friday, while Wilkinson gets underway at 12.46am.