Ryan Fox opens up on ‘lonely’ year on PGA Tour

As he prepares to defend the BMW PGA Championship, Ryan Fox has admitted he has found the PGA Tour a ‘tough’ place to play this year.

The big-hitting Kiwi’s victory at Wentworth 12 months ago went a long way to securing him playing rights on the US-based circuit this year.

However, the 37-year-old struggled to establish himself, making only 13 cuts from 20 starts to finish 109th on the FedEx Cup standings, with a best finish of T4 in the Myrtle Beach Classic one of just three top-10s he managed across the season.

Back on familiar soil this week, Fox opened up on his struggles with playing full-time in the US.

“It’s probably been a bit more of a grind than I expected,” he revealed. “I’ve been on the road for 30 weeks. By the time I got home after the Wyndham Championship, I’ve only had four weeks at home total this year. So, it was very tough in that regard.

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“We didn’t have a base in the US and the competition depth-wise felt a lot stronger than I expected.

“I just never quite got it going. I had some decent weeks without it being spectacular.

“It’s a big change. I’m 37, being a rookie on the PGA Tour. I had everything sorted over here. I kind of knew what schedule, how that was going to work, what events and all the travel and all that on PGA Tour was new.

“Playing rounds on Tuesday, trying to figure out a golf course, competing against guys that have competed on it multiple times, the pro-ams — it makes Tuesday more important. They are long practise rounds, as well.

“If you’re not quite on, it’s hard to compete and I felt like I was playing catch up a lot of the year in that respect.”

Fox’s comments echo those of Robert MacIntyre, who has spoken on several occasions about the challenge of swapping one side of the Atlantic for the other.

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The pair played alongside one another at the Myrtle Beach Classic where they flourished in familiar company.

“I think Bob said to me going down the first hole, ‘It’s great to play with someone I can have a bit of a chat with and know I can have a bit of a laugh with,’” said Fox. “Same for me. We know each other well, both finished in the top-10 that week, and he kicked on pretty strongly from that. He had a bit of a break at home and that kind of refreshed him.

“It’s tough over there. Everyone does their own thing, and I don’t know why that is, per se. But it just feels like it’s a bit more lonely over there and I think both of us kind of struggled with that.

“I travel with my family, so the loneliness off the golf course wasn’t there but still I found it quite hard to make friends.

“I think the European guys kind of bonded together a little bit there.”

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor