Ryan Fox and his father Grant Fox ahead of the Masters at Augusta National. Photo / Getty Images
Ryan Fox and his father Grant Fox ahead of the Masters at Augusta National. Photo / Getty Images
OPINION:
Rugby and golf rarely overlap but, watching Ryan Fox’s progress through the Masters, it was easy to scan back 30 years-plus to the days when Grant Fox was a world-class player.
Focus was the word that recurred when watching Ryan at Augusta harness the competitive spirit inheritedfrom his All Black dad. The course suits him, with its broad fairways, but the Masters’ challenge has always been what you do with the next shot. It quickly slams the door shut if precise position isn’t gained around the greens.
That, for someone ranked only 80th on the DP World Tour in strokes gained around the green (though 41st in strokes gained approaching the green), is a challenge indeed – and his focus and determination was carved into Fox’s features as he finished his second round tied for 18th.
Before his first Masters, Fox had made the point he was going to have some fun, so as not to seize up with the significance of the event. But competitive spirit cannot be corked too long; Fox’s determination to acquit himself well was almost tangible. The look on his face was almost identical to that of his father when taking all those clutch goal kicks years earlier – deadpan, with a set to the jaw and a stare from the eyes that suggested failure was a foreign concept.
It was that which transported me back all those decades to when Grant was making his way into the All Blacks’ starting XV. It didn’t come easy – he had some bloke called Wayne Smith ahead of him at the beginning and he faced his own Beauden Barrett-Richie Mo’unga debate. Many felt Frano Botica – a Mo’unga-like running first five for North Harbour – was the better player; the debate dogged Fox’s heels for some time.
Grant Fox in action for the All Blacks in 1989. Photo / Photosport
He played his first international against the Pumas in Buenos Aires in 1985 when Smith was affected by illness. Even then, Fox didn’t take the kicks at goal; fullback Kieran Crowley was the lead kicker in those days. Fox kicked a drop goal but was himself dropped for the second test with Smith’s return – though that test was drawn 21-21.
It was a different time in Buenos Aires ahead of that second test; the media travelled with and were much closer to the All Blacks than today. It was the custom of the time for the travelling media corps to take the coach and the “dirty dirties” (those not involved in the test squad) out for dinner on the eve of the test. Somehow Fox and I became separated from the pack later that night. Drink may have been taken. I recall Fox, unable to contain his competitiveness, sailing forth verbally on his ambitions for the future, making it plain he had a highly focused eye on the big prize.
I can also remember walking back to the hotel quite late – and one of us falling over a curb. It may have been me. His fierce determination made an impression; it was intriguing to see it surfacing again in his son many years later.
In France in 1986, Botica got the No 10 test gig with Fox, still serving time for the rebel Cavaliers tour of South Africa, in the reserves. The All Blacks won one and lost one in France, with the second test at Nantes the infamous match when Buck Shelford was briefly in danger of being separated from a testicle.
After that, however, Fox reigned supreme. He began compiling a test points-scoring record which has since been bettered by Andrew Mehrtens, Beauden Barrett and Dan Carter. His strike rate was immense and his goal kicking routine and focus so reliable, Fox seemed to thrive on the pressure. On a points-per-test ratio, Fox (14.02 points per test) is second only to the great Carter (14.18), with Mehrtens (13.81) and Barrett (6.42) behind.
Botica was clearly the better runner, the better athlete. Fox’s running style could be cruelly described as scuttling (and Ryan has a vaguely piratical gait, suggestive of someone who’s just got off a boat after a long time at sea). But Grant Fox was the matchwinner, either with that ice-cool goal kicking, his game control or something for which he received few plaudits – a deadly accurate long pass which saw his outsides (John Kirwan, Joe Stanley and Terry Wright) score tries in bunches.
It’s the turn of another Fox in the world spotlight now – and it will be fascinating to see how often and how far Ryan plays and progresses on the PGA Tour. One thing’s for sure: he won’t lack for focus.
