Ryan Fox will play in the WGC Match Play tournament this week. Photo / Getty Images
Ryan Fox will play in the WGC Match Play tournament this week. Photo / Getty Images
There are few holes on the PGA Tour that promise more drama than the 17th at TPC Sawgrass.
The course that hosts the Players Championship, the 17th is a short par-three of about 125 metres, known as the Island Green - as the green sits surrounded by a body ofwater. Add in the hundreds of fans who gather in the stands and viewing areas overlooking the hole, and there is a lot of pressure on any golfer who steps up to the tee.
While Ryan Fox’s run of tournaments has seen him taking on courses he hadn’t competed on before, teeing off on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass was a memorable experience for the Aucklander.
“I can safely tell you that tee shot sucks in the wind,” Fox recalled to the Herald.
“It’s actually not that hard a hole. It’s not that long, it’s quite a big target. The penalty for missing is quite bad, but there’s something about it with all the stands up, the breeze is swirly around it, and there’s quite a few people around wanting you to hit it in the water.
“It’s just a tough shot and I was pretty happy to play at even par for the week and get it on dry land four times, which sounds bad when it’s pretty much only a wedge or a sand wedge, but there’s just something about that hole that just screams drama.”
Ryan Fox faces an unfamiliar challenge of match play this week. Photo / Getty Images
Fox navigated the hole nicely over his four rounds on his way to a 27th-placed finish in his tournament debut, following on from 14th placed at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill a week prior.
Now, after a week away from the tournament arena, Fox is hopeful of carrying that form into this week’s WGC Match Play tournament in Austin, Texas.
This week’s event differs from the usual strokeplay tournament model. Instead of trying to beat the course and post the best accumulative score over four rounds, athletes go head-to-head against one another over 18 holes.
The field of 64 is broken into 16 groups of four. After three round-robin matches, the group winner will advance to the Round of 16 and elimination play.
World No 34 Fox’s opening round match on Thursday is against Harris English (No 43), while he will meet Andrew Putnam (No 68) in the second round, and Will Zalatoris (No 8) in his third match.
Having played limited match play since he turned professional, Fox is looking forward to the challenge.
“It’s a fun golf course for it; lots of risk-reward, should be lots of birdies out there hopefully, and it kind of lends itself to being aggressive. I’ve always liked that,” he said.
“Match play’s very different. There’s a fair bit of luck involved in that as well. You can easily shoot eight-under and have a great day, and someone beats you by shooting nine. Whereas if you shoot eight-under in the tournament, in stroke play, you’re going to be pretty damn happy with yourself. Match play can be funny like that.
“I’ve got my work cut out for me this week, but I also feel like if I play my best golf I can compete with those guys, no problem. It’s going to be fun regardless.”
