PGA tour playoffs: Ryan Fox falls further off pace as lightning suspends play

Lightning in Memphis brought a halt to play late in the second round of the St Jude Championship, but not before Ryan Fox fell further off the pace.

The Kiwi golfer had an improved showing in the second round of the first PGA Tour playoff event, carding a one-over-par 71 – one shot better than his opening-round performance.

Fox made four birdies in his round, but cancelled those out with three bogeys and a double. Sitting at three-over at the halfway point of the tournament, Fox trailed clubhouse leader Tommy Fleetwood by 16 shots, the Englishman taking top spot on the leaderboard with a round of six-under.

For Fox, the tournament could now be a case of damage control as he looks ahead to the remaining two playoff events of the season.

Heading into Memphis ranked at No 32 in the FedEx Cup, he’s in little danger of missing out on next week’s second leg of the playoffs, where the field is cut from the top 70 to the top 50.

However, with the Tour Championship in a fortnight only featuring the top 30 players come the end of next week’s BMW Championship, there is plenty to play for, with FedEx Cup points continuing to add up.

Currently in a tie for 61st, Fox is projected to drop six places in the FedEx Cup standings. However, this will change as the tournament rolls on.

It was an ominous sign for the Kiwi early in his second round after he found the fairway bunker off the first tee and took two shots to get out of the sand. He went on to make a double-bogey six.

However, it wasn’t so much a sign of things to come for Fox as it was just a bad way to start. He improved off the tee, finding seven of 14 fairways after only finding four in round one, and made 11 of 18 greens in regulation. He is among the top 30 players in the tournament for greens in regulation at 61% through two rounds.

There were still 21 golfers out on the course when the weather resulted in play being suspended for the day, and those rounds will resume in the early hours of Sunday morning (NZT), with the third round to follow.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.