Ryan Fox is feeling confident ahead of the 150th Open Championship this week. Photo / Photosport
Ryan Fox is feeling confident ahead of the 150th Open Championship this week. Photo / Photosport
Ryan Fox has played the Old Course at St Andrews dozens of times, but for the first time in his career, the New Zealand No 1 heads into The Open Championship believing he can win the Claret Jug.
Fox is riding an unprecedented wave of belief as he prepares forThe Open's return to the 'home of golf' for the first time since 2015, when he had his first taste of playing at a major.
The 35-year-old's overall game is in good shape and he has four top-three finishes in his last seven starts, despite a blip at the Scottish Open last week where he finished tied for 47th.
Part of Fox's optimism this week is down to the fact he knows the Old Course so well, having played it numerous times over the years since his first Open there in 2015.
After playing eight holes on Tuesday, Fox plans to get more practice in but knows he already has a good feel for the course.
"The course is very firm," Fox told the Herald. "They've actually had quite a bit of sunshine and not a whole lot of rain, which I think the R&A wanted in the lead-up to this event. They want it to play firm and fast and that's the case this week.
"It's kind of a funny week preparation-wise. I think I've played St Andrews about 30 times now at least and it's actually easier to play in a major than it is normally. There's much more stuff to aim at, grandstands and TV towers than what we normally get so I don't need to play it too much."
Ryan Fox has four top three finishes in his last seven starts. Photo / Photosport
Having played a lot in the last 13 weeks, Fox is wary of overdoing the preparation. While he acknowledges the 150th Open will be different, he hopes to treat his 14th major tournament just like any other.
"I've been lucky to play quite a few of these now and it's definitely a different feeling. But If I played a tour event a bunch of times and played the golf course as many times as I play St Andrews, the prep would be on the lower side and I don't see why I need to change that theory this week.
"St Andrews hasn't changed in a long, long time and I've got a great picture of the golf course in my head. I feel like I almost know every slope around that place."
The links course typically favours the bigger hitters, which will benefit Fox who is one of the longest drivers on Tour. He feels he can compete with the best players in the world.
"I'll have to do something pretty special to win. But there's no reason that can't happen. We'll see, there's a lot of variables in place obviously, especially playing links golf. I'm looking forward to it.
"I'm not trying to put any pressure or expectation on myself, just go out and do what I've been doing the last few weeks, and it is a golf course I really enjoy playing. So that certainly helps."
He is boosted by having both his coaches, UK-based Jamie Gough and long-time coach Marcus Wheelhouse, who jetted in from Auckland, with him this week.
It's not usual for players to have two coaches, but it's working for Fox who has climbed from 213 in the world rankings at the start of the year to 48, down two places on his career-high 46 last week.
"Having both coaches here is nice," Fox said. "Marcus has done more the short game side of things and Jamie has been looking after the swing while on tour. It seems to be working pretty well there. I'm the only guy Jamie's got this week, and obviously the only guy Marcus has got so am getting a lot of attention, which is nice."
Ryan Fox is the 48th ranked player in the world. Photo / Photosport
Fox also dismissed his average showing, by his recent standards, at last week's Scottish Open.
"The Scottish Open wasn't as bad as the scoring suggested (four-over for the tournament). We got the very tough side of the draw on Thursday and the difference between Thursday morning and Thursday afternoon was almost four shots on the field, which obviously puts you at a disadvantage.
"Then we had the same winds on Friday afternoon but they set the golf course up a little bit easier. I know there were a few people that are a bit annoyed, felt like it favoured one side of the draw a little bit too much, which potentially happened.
"But I felt like my golf game was in pretty reasonable shape; had a couple of bad holes here and there. But it's just been a golf course, the Renaissance Club, over the last few years that for some reason I've struggled around. The first couple of times I played, I haven't really finished better than 45th. So I don't know what it is. It's just one of those golf courses. I haven't quite figured out how to play it. I've struggled on the greens and I did the same last week."
As the week draws closer to tee time, Fox is happy to soak in the atmosphere around St Andrews and revel in the opportunity he has in front of him.
"Driving to the golf course this morning, it's pretty cool. I mean it feels the same, similar to what it was in 2015 with the setup of the stands and everything. And it's just cool. I mean, St Andrews is an epic place and there were plenty of people out there [for early in the week]. It's only going to get busier... It promises to be a pretty special week here."
Fox will be one of two Kiwis in the field alongside Ben Campbell, who secured his spot at The Open with a top three finish at the Vic Open qualifying event in February.
The first round starts on Thursday with Campbell teeing off at 5.46pm and Fox at 10.36pm.
