Hitting 300-yard Drives Means Nothing If You Can't Score!

Ryan Fox, the big-hitting Kiwi, discusses stepping out of the shadow of his legendary father...

- Neil Tappin

Timing, as they say, is everything. Last year, Ryan Fox played his best golf during three of the most important weeks of the year. As other players wilted under the pressure of better-quality fields and bigger potential pay cheques, Fox rose to the challenge. Starting at Paris National and finishing at Dundonald in Scotland, the New Zealander recorded three consecutive Rolex Series top tens, pocketing a not-too-shabby €680,000. Having graduated from the Challenge

Tour in 2016, he has progressed to become one of the game’s rising stars. The fact he was able to elevate his level of performance at just the right moment hints at a sporting mentality that runs in the family. Ryan is the son of the legendary All Black, Grant Fox. His father was a pioneering fly-half – a goal-kicker of supreme precision who played a critical role in his country’s success at the inaugural rugby union World Cup. As sporting pedigrees go, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Neil Tappin caught up with Ryan at his adopted home club of Foxhills in Surrey where they talked about his unique upbringing, his spectacular 2017 season and what it feels like to average 317 yards off the tee...

At what point did you think you were capable of competing on the European Tour?

 I’m a bit of a golf nerd – I watched a lot of golf on TV growing up and all of a sudden I was competing with the guys I watched. It took a bit of time to get used to. The point for me was the middle of the year and the Rolex Series events in France, Ireland and Scotland where I played really well. I started to feel like I could compete with those guys in quality fields. With three top tens in a row, I felt like I had a chance to win one of those tournaments if I’d have played really well on Sunday.