PGA Tour playoffs: Ryan Fox makes young fan’s day, but sits off the pace at St Jude Championship

Ryan Fox might not have had the best round he’ll ever play in through 18 holes at the St Jude Championship in Memphis this morning, but he did make sure the day was a memorable one for a young fan.

Before teeing off at TPC Southwind, Fox stopped to meet a young fan named Beau holding a sign reading: “We came from New Zealand to see the FedEx Champs.”

The Kiwi world No 34 golfer took the time to chat, sign autographs, pose for photos and gifted him a glove before going on to begin his round.

Speaking to tournament media, Beau’s father Alex Moore said Fox had made the young fan’s day.

“He’s an avid golfer for nine and was keen to see Ryan Fox, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler - all those guys. Made his day already,” Moore said.

“With [Fox] being one of the only New Zealanders on the PGA Tour, the whole country basically roots for him. I’ve been out playing golf and guys are watching the tournaments on their phones. The whole country’s rooting for him.”

Moore, originally from St Louis, moved to New Zealand about 12 years ago and he and wife Paula operate Buffalo’s American Food Co. in Cromwell. They made the trip down to Memphis for the golf while on holiday in St Louis - about a four-hour drive south.

While he was able to make the family’s day, Fox left himself plenty of work to do in the opening round of the Tour playoffs.

Opening the day with a birdie, it seemed to be a good omen for the Kiwi in the 69-strong field.

However, he again struggled with accuracy with his driver - only finding four of 14 fairways off the tee. He was able to recover well to still make 11 of 18 greens in regulation, but his birdie opportunities were often from distance. He did, however, sink the two chances he had to pick up a shot from within 10ft (3m), which came on the first and sixth - both par-fours.

Positively, Fox told the Herald there were no lingering effects of the rib issue that was troubling him at last week’s Wyndham Championship.

Sitting even through nine holes, bogeys on the par-three 14th and par-four 17th saw him drop down the leaderboard late in the round, with his two-over-par round leaving him well off the pace.

The pace for the day was set by American Akshay Bhatia, who finished with a sizzling eight-under round to hold a one-shot lead from Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.

Fox ended the day in a tie for 58th, but with the playoff events having no cut line, the Kiwi will have another three rounds to turn his tournament around.

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