“This year was a massive success,” Fox told Newstalk ZB.
“This year was a very new challenge; playing a lot more on the PGA tour and also dealing with some family stuff going on - both good and bad. It was trying through the middle of the year a little bit, but I got through that and had a really nice finish.
“To win the BMW PGA at Wentworth, that’s our iconic event in Europe. To take down a field like that, that just put the icing on the cake for the year. The goal at the start of the year was to get a PGA Tour card and I got that locked up after that win, basically.
“It’s been a nice year. I would have probably liked to have finished it off a little bit better than I did those last two events, but I certainly can’t complain.”
With his PGA Tour card locked away, Fox will spend significantly more time in the United States in 2024, with most full-time members of the tour required to compete in a minimum of 15 tournaments - athletes deemed “top players” (defined as someone who finished in the top 20 under the current Player Impact Program) are required to play in 20 events - while Fox will also have to play in at least four events in Europe on the DP World Tour.
He is now set to enjoy a seven-week stretch back at home in New Zealand, during which he’ll take part in some fun events next month - such as Chasing the Fox at Royal Auckland and Grange and The Fox Fishing and Golf festival at Waihi Beach - but will largely use the period for rest and recovery.
For 2024, the 36-year-old already has some goals in mind: winning an event on the PGA Tour, competing in the Olympic Games, finishing the year in the top 50 on the FedEx Cup points list, and playing in the President’s Cup after being surprisingly overlooked in 2022.
“I think [I proved] a couple of things [this year],” Fox said. “I played well in a lot of the big events in the States and that my golf game was good enough. While I didn’t have any top-10s or anything, I had a lot of really solid results in strong fields so I took a lot from those.
“At Wentworth, that field was probably the strongest we’ve had in Europe for quite a long time and to take those guys on down the stretch and get a win on Sunday, you know, prove that my best is good enough to compete with the best in the world, I think I always believed it but now I definitely believe it.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
