Had Ryan Fox not made such a strong start to the Wyndham Championship, his campaign in North Carolina last week might have ended much sooner.
The world No 34 golfer had already qualified for the PGA Tour playoffs and his place in the first two of those three end-of-season tournaments was as good as secured.
So, when a rib injury reared its head while he was warming up ahead of his first round, Fox admitted he likely would have withdrawn from the event in different circumstances.
“I have no idea what I did. I was really, really struggling out there. I had to call the physio through the 10th hole, took some painkillers, and I managed my way around the golf course pretty well the whole day,” he recalled.
“I had some really good iron shots, I was just really struggling with the driver; probably worried about a bit of pain there and every tee shot I hit for that day, I hit left.”
Fox managed to go four-under through 17 holes before he “pulled the crap out of” his drive on the par-four 18th and into the trees on the left-hand side. That saw him with no choice but to play up to the adjacent fairway and scramble for a double bogey.
“How I felt, if I was a couple over par through nine holes, I probably would have pulled out, but I was kind of hanging in there nicely and that hurt a little bit, that double.”
Fox ultimately missed the cut by four shots, carding a three-over-par second round, which saw him get an extended run into this week’s first playoff event – the St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis.
“In the end, I probably needed a weekend off. It feels a whole lot better today after some treatment and some anti-inflammatories and, hopefully, I should be all good to go this week.”
The St Jude Championships sees the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup rankings look to better their position, with the top 50 earning a spot at next week’s BMW Championship, before the top 30 play for the Tour Championship the following week.
The playoff events have no cut and increased FedEx Cup points and prize money on offer, putting more on the line for the players.
While that might be the case, Fox said it didn’t mean there was any extra pressure over the coming weeks.
“Obviously I’ve achieved a lot of what I wanted to achieve already this year. We’ve been locked into that top 50 now, which gets everything for next year and the one big goal to tick off now for the rest of the year is the Tour Championship,” he said.
“I just need one good week out of the next two weeks to do that and can just go out and give it a good crack. Whatever happens, happens. It’s a nice place to be.”
The St Jude Championship will only feature a field of 69, with world No 2 Rory McIlroy opting not to play in this week’s tournament.
In past seasons, the FedEx Cup leader heading into the Tour Championship started the final tournament of the season 10-under-par, with starting strokes given to golfers in descending order. However, the Tour has done away with that format this season and instead everyone will start the event at even par.
McIlroy, currently ranked at No 2 on the FedEx Cup leaderboard, is at no risk of missing the Tour Championship, so missing the first event of the playoffs doesn’t do his title chances any harm. McIlroy told The Daily Telegraph in November that he would likely opt out of the first playoff event to cut down on his schedule, and his comfortable position near the top of the standings has allowed him to do so.
Tiger Woods made a similar decision in 2007, the year the FedEx Cup playoffs were introduced in a four-event format, causing a stir as he opted not to play in the first event. Woods went on to a T2 and two wins in the remaining three tournaments, winning the FedEx Cup.
McIlroy’s decision comes after the Northern Irishman, who has three wins this season including the Masters, finished in a tie for 68th in Memphis last year – second-to-last – and it barely impacted where he sat in the season standings.
As a result, German Matti Schmid, the lowest-ranked player in the field, will fly solo for at least the first two rounds.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.