Valero Texas Open: Ryan Fox opens up on PGA Tour form struggles as Masters looms

Ryan Fox is hoping to play his way into form after a rough start to his year. Photo / Getty Images

Confidence on the golf course continues to elude Ryan Fox.

Making the cut at last week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open was a step in the right direction given he had missed the previous two. But in looking at where his game is heading into this week’s Valero Texas Open, Fox didn’t shy away in his assessment.

“Golf’s pretty hard at the moment,” Fox said.

“I’m just really struggling to score and there’s a few really bad shots creeping in so it’s hard to keep the confidence levels up at times. I’ll start hitting some good shots and then one bad one comes out of nowhere and it dents the confidence again.

“I’m still working really hard at it, so I’m sure that’ll turn at some point.”

After a breakout year in 2023 saw him impress on both the Europe-based DP World Tour and America’s PGA Tour, and ultimately land a full membership on the latter, this year has not followed suit.

In seven events on the PGA Tour he has only made the cut four times, with a tie for 35th at the Cognizant Classic his best performance of the season to date.

There have been some moments of gold for the 37-year-old, but he is yet to put it all together.

“I’ve certainly made enough double [bogeys] and a couple of other big numbers and that is hard to come back from,” Fox said.

“This game is a funny one. I always think you’re you two swings away from playing really well and you’re two swings away from playing really badly, and at the moment, I haven’t had those two really good swings, a good feel to be like I’ve got this, I know I’ve got some control back.”

It’s not a totally unfamiliar position, however, but it’s one Fox hasn’t found himself in for quite some time.

He likened his current struggles to those of his first full year on the European Tour in 2017, in which he struggled at the start but got his feeling back and rattled off some strong finishes, ending the year with five top 10s.

“I know something like that can happen in the next few weeks. It’s just having those couple of swings, getting the right feel and putting a score together, and the confidence comes back really quickly.”

With the Masters approaching after this week’s tournament in Texas, Fox was hopeful of a turnaround in the not-too-distant future, although he said he didn’t feel the pressure to make something happen this week.

After all, form isn’t something that can be forced.

“I’d certainly like it to happen. I don’t think there’s necessarily any pressure on it to happen, but I’d certainly like to at least walk away from this week with some positives.

“I missed the cut by a fair bit here last year and walked away not feeling great about my game and ended up having a pretty good week at Augusta.

“Golf is a strange game like that. I certainly wouldn’t mind missing the cut this week if I went and played decent next week, but I’d certainly like to find something this week to take into Augusta and just get my frame of mind back.

“It’s been a bit of a tough road the last couple of months and a good week would change that headspace pretty quickly.”

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