Golf: Ryan Fox finishes second at Nedbank Golf Challenge

Ryan Fox of New Zealand prepares to play his putt shot on the 17th hole during Day Four of the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Photo / Getty

The fine run in 2022 continues for Ryan Fox, as does the fine line between capturing another victory and a second placing.

A bogey on the 72nd hole cost the Kiwi a shot at his third win of the year and first place in the DP World Tour standings - but he recorded yet another runner-up, losing by a shot to England’s Tommy Fleetwood. Fox takes home €650,874 (NZ$1,105,126) for second, increasing his prize money for 2022 to €3,272,543 ($NZ5.5m).

Fox carded a four-under 68 to finish at 10-under, flawless for most of the final day until the 18th tee.

Fox went with an iron off the tee on the final hole and mis-hit it short left leaving him with a near-impossible approach shot to the final green, stuck in the rough on the left with no view of the pin.

He ended up short right and his third shot on the par four went long of the green. That opened the door for defending champion and world number 25 Fleetwood who just missed his long birdie putt. But when Fox couldn’t sink his lengthy par attempt off the green, Fleetwood was able to tap in for the victory.

The second placing is Fox’s fourth of the season and sees him close the gap but remain in second behind world number one Rory McIlroy on the DP World Tour standings heading into the final tournament - next week’s World Tour Championship in Dubai.

It was a three-way tussle along with Shubhankar Sharma who was also part of their group that began the day three shots back from the lead. All three were at 11-under with two to play before Sharma went bogey-bogey to finish third.

Fleetwood jumped into a share of the lead after a stunning eagle chip-in from the green-side bunker at the 14th, where he looked certain to drop touch with Fox who made birdie.

The victory was Fleetwood’s sixth on the DP World Tour and first since this event three years ago, the last time it was staged due to the pandemic.

“I played great and didn’t miss a shot until 18. I’d liked to have played it better and made Tommy work a little bit harder but it’s an incredibly tough golf course to play down the stretch,” Fox said.

“I felt like I played some really good shots and gave myself plenty of chances.

“Three of us were thereabouts with a few holes to play and Tommy was the one that held it together. Fair play to him.

“I’m still really happy. I don’t think I’ve finished inside the top 50 here in three starts so if had given me second and closing the gap by a decent amount on Rory at the start of the week, I would have taken it.”

Looking ahead to Dubai, where he will tee it up aiming to make up 128 points on four-time major winner McIlroy, Fox added: “I’ve still got some work to do. He’s the number one player in the world for a reason but I’ll just try to do the same thing - go out and beat the golf course then see what happens. I’m looking forward to it.”