Golf: Ryan Fox reflects on major difference between tournaments as he looks to capitalise on strong form at BMW PGA Championship

Ryan Fox finished in a tie for third at the Irish Open last week - his first tournament in more than a month. Photo / Getty Images

There’s a lot to be said for taking time to refresh.

A little more than a month ago, Ryan Fox returned to New Zealand for a break after a few disappointing tournaments, following a busy season in which he put himself in a great position to earn a fulltime PGA Tour card for 2024.

He still played some golf while he was home but was able to switch off between rounds and spend time with his family. The benefits he reaped in that downtime showed in his performance in his return to the DP World Tour in Ireland last week.

“It was kind of chalk and cheese, to be honest,” Fox told the Herald.

“At the 3M Open (in July), I probably didn’t realise how tired I was from all the travel and everything else that was going on until I got home. At that point, I was kind of getting sick of golf and not really enjoying it, but it’s amazing what a few weeks off did.

“I really enjoyed last week, enjoyed being back in Europe. The Irish Open has always been one of my favourite events on tour, and I just enjoyed the whole week and it was nice to be back out there.”

Fox not only enjoyed his golf but was back playing pressure rounds on the weekend – challenging for the title and ultimately finishing in a tie for third place.

After admittedly feeling a bit rusty in the opening stages of the tournament, with three bogeys in his opening round, he was only over par on three of his last 54 holes to finish the event 12-under-par.

“Trying to play under pressure on Sunday hasn’t been something I’ve felt a lot this year for the most part, so it was nice to get those feelings again,” Fox said.

The result saw him up 14 places up the DP World Tour season leaderboard into 30th as he looks to set himself up with another pathway to a fulltime PGA Tour card next season, with the top 10 eligible players on the DP World Tour achieving that.

Fellow Kiwi Daniel Hillier, who finished in a tie for 12th in Ireland, is also in that hunt and currently sits 21st on the ladder.

Both Kiwis will lineup this week at the BMW PGA Championship in Surrey, England, for what has become arguably the biggest tournament on the DP World Tour schedule.

Among the contenders, the tournament will feature all 12 of Europe’s Ryder Cup team - including the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland.

The course at Wentworth Golf Club is not one that has been particularly kind to Fox in his career. The Kiwi has made six starts at the venue for just one top-20 finish (2020), and two missed cuts (2017, 2019), while he withdrew from the tournament after his first round last year.

“It’s a strong golf course,” Fox said.

“I think they had 30C in London all of last week, so the greens are really firm and the roughs up because there has been a bit of rain as well in the weeks previous, so everything’s growing really nicely.

“It’s going to be a tough week this week, but it’s probably the first time I’ve come into Wentworth off the back of a decent result and I felt like I was hitting it really nice at the back end of last week, so hopefully I can take that into this week.”