Ryan Fox (golfer)

Ryan Fox (born 22 January 1987) is a New Zealand professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia.

Ryan Fox
Personal information
Nickname	Foxy
Born	(1987-01-22) 22 January 1987 (age 38) Auckland, New Zealand[1]
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	98 kg (216 lb; 15.4 st)
Sporting nationality	New Zealand
Residence	London, England Auckland, New Zealand
Spouse	Anneke Ryff ​ (m. 2019)​
Children	2
Career
Turned professional	2012
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour European Tour PGA Tour of Australasia
Former tour(s)	Challenge Tour OneAsia Tour
Professional wins	17
Highest ranking	23 (9 October 2022)[2] (as of 24 November 2024)
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	4
Asian Tour	1
PGA Tour of Australasia	3
Challenge Tour	2
Other	9
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	T26: 2023
PGA Championship	T23: 2023
U.S. Open	T41: 2018
The Open Championship	T16: 2019
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner 2019 PGA Tour of Australasia Player of the Year 2019 Charles Tour Order of Merit winner 2021 European Tour Player of the Year 2022

Professional career

Fox turned professional in 2012, starting on the 2012 PGA Tour of Australasia. He had two 4th-place finishes, in the New Zealand PGA Pro-Am Championship and the New South Wales PGA Championship. He was runner-up in the 2014 Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship and later in the year won the Western Australian Open.^[3] In early 2015, he had his second win on the PGA Tour of Australasia, the Queensland PGA Championship.^[4]

Fox was joint runner-up in the 2015 Maekyung Open in South Korea and later in the year began playing on the 2015 Challenge Tour, winning the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in July.^[5] He qualified for the 2015 Open Championship through final qualifying, made the cut and finished tied for 49th place.^[6]

Fox played on the 2016 Challenge Tour, winning the Tayto Northern Ireland Open as well as being twice a runner-up, and finished 4th in the Order of Merit, earning his card for the 2017 European Tour.

In 2017, Fox finished 5th in the HNA Open de France and tied 4th in both the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open. His finish in the Irish Open gained him an entry into the 2017 Open Championship, although he missed the cut. His run of form lifted him in the world top-100 and he received an entry to the 2017 PGA Championship when he finished tied for 54th.

Another timely run of Rolex Series form from late May 2018 resulted in a 43rd in the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club, an 8th in the Italian Open and subsequent qualification at Walton Heath for the 2018 U.S. Open the following day.

In February 2019, Fox won his first European Tour event, at the co-sanctioned ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth, beating Adrián Otaegui 3 and 2 in the final. He was the first New Zealander to win on the European Tour in 10 years since Danny Lee.

2022: Second European Tour win and further success

Fox won his second European Tour event in February 2022 at the Ras Al Khaimah Classic. He shot 22-under-par for four rounds, beating Ross Fisher by five shots.^[7] In May, Fox finished tied-for-second place at the Soudal Open, two shots behind winner Sam Horsfield.^[8] Two weeks later, he was defeated in a playoff by Victor Perez at the Dutch Open.^[9] In July, Fox finished runner-up at the Horizon Irish Open, three shots behind Adrian Meronk.^[10] In October, he won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, shooting a final-round 68 to win by one shot ahead of Alex Norén and Callum Shinkwin.^[11] In November, he finished runner-up at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, one shot behind Tommy Fleetwood.^[12] Having recorded 10 Top-10s during the 2022 season, Fox found himself lying in second position in the DP World Tour Rankings heading into the final event; the DP World Tour Championship.^[13] With a 19th-place finish at the season finale, it was good enough to see Fox maintain his second place in the rankings, finishing only behind Rory McIlroy.^[14] With his performances across the 2022 European Tour season, he was awarded with the Seve Ballesteros Award.^[15]

In May 2023, Fox earned special temporary membership on the PGA Tour.^[16] In September 2023, Fox won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. He shot a final-round 67, including an up-and-down birdie on the final hole to win by one shot over Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai. It was also his first Rolex Series title.^[17]

Personal life

Fox is the son of former rugby union player Grant Fox,^[3] and grandson of cricketer Merv Wallace.^[18]

On 9 March 2019, Fox married Anneke Ryff on Rakino Island in the Hauraki Gulf.^[19] The couple have two daughters, Isobel and Margot.^[20][21]

Professional wins (17)

European Tour wins (4)

Legend
Rolex Series (1)
Other European Tour (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	17 Feb 2019	ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth1	3 and 2		Adrián Otaegui
2	13 Feb 2022	Ras Al Khaimah Classic	−22 (63-69-65-69=266)	5 strokes	Ross Fisher
3	2 Oct 2022	Alfred Dunhill Links Championship	−15 (66-74-65-68=273)	1 stroke	Alex Norén, Callum Shinkwin
4	17 Sep 2023	BMW PGA Championship	−18 (69-68-66-67=270)	1 stroke	Tyrrell Hatton, Aaron Rai

¹Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia

European Tour playoff record (0–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2018	Dubai Duty Free Irish Open	Russell Knox	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2	2022	Dutch Open	Victor Perez	Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	19 Oct 2014	John Hughes/Nexus Risk Services WA Open	−23 (64-66-68-67=265)	6 strokes	Stephen Dartnall
2	22 Feb 2015	Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship	−17 (72-64-65-62=263)	1 stroke	Matthew Millar, Cameron Smith
3	17 Feb 2019	ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth1	3 and 2		Adrián Otaegui

¹Co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Asian Tour

Challenge Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	26 Jul 2015	Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge	−14 (62-67-68-73=270)	1 stroke	Thomas Linard
2	31 Jul 2016	Tayto Northern Ireland Open	−19 (66-68-69-62=265)	4 strokes	Dominic Foos, Dylan Frittelli, Max Orrin, Bernd Ritthammer

Charles Tour wins (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	4 May 2014	Ask Metro Muriwai Open	−20 (68-64-67-69=268)	3 strokes	Kieran Muir
2	4 Apr 2021	Clubroom Gulf Harbour Open	−23 (67-70-66-62=265)	7 strokes	Josh Geary, James Hydes (a)
3	11 Apr 2021	Autex Muriwai Open (2)	−25 (65-66-68-64=263)	3 strokes	Daniel Hillier

Other wins (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	11 Jun 2012	Fiji Open	−15 (66-67-68=201)	6 strokes	Nick Gillespie, Tomasi Tuivuna
2	8 Jul 2012	Tahiti Open	−23 (66-69-62-68=265)	1 stroke	Terry Pilkadaris
3	9 Jun 2013	Fiji Open (2)	−20 (67-72-64-65=268)	9 strokes	Nick Gillespie
4	8 Jun 2014	Tahiti Open (2)	−20 (66-66-67-69=268)	1 stroke	Kieran Muir
5	13 Jun 2020	Briscoes Wairakei Pro-Am Invitational	−24 (63-66-63=192)	13 strokes	Gareth Paddison
6	22 Apr 2021	Briscoes Wairakei Pro-Am Invitational (2)	−12 (63-71-70=204)	1 stroke	Josh Geary

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament	2015	2016	2017	2018
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open				T41
The Open Championship	T49		CUT	T39
PGA Championship			T54	T27

Tournament	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Masters Tournament					T26	T38
PGA Championship	CUT			54	T23	75
U.S. Open	CUT	CUT		CUT	T43	T56
The Open Championship	T16	NT	T67	CUT	T52	T25

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied for place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	5
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	3
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	6
Totals	0	0	0	0	0	3	22	16

• Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (2023 Masters – 2024 Open Championship, current)
• Longest streak of top-10s – none

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament	2023	2024
The Players Championship	T27	CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Championship			T67	T29
Match Play				NT1			T17
Invitational
Champions	T46	T30		NT1	NT1	NT1

¹Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Did not play

NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.

Team appearances

Amateur

• Nomura Cup (representing New Zealand): 2009, 2011
• Eisenhower Trophy (representing New Zealand): 2010
• Sloan Morpeth Trophy (representing New Zealand): 2009, 2010

Professional

• World Cup (representing New Zealand): 2016, 2018

See also

• 2016 Challenge Tour graduates
• 2023 Race to Dubai dual card winners

References

1. "Ryan Fox". New Zealand Olympic Committee. 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
2. "Week 41 2022 Ending 9 Oct 2022" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
3. "Fox secures an emphatic victory at WA Open". PGA Australia. 19 October 2014.
4. Woodcock, Fred (22 February 2015). "Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox wins Queensland PGA title with back-to-back eagles". Stuff.
5. "Golf: Fox wins maiden title in France". The New Zealand Herald. 27 July 2015.
6. "Fox holds nerve to make British Open cut". NZCity. 19 July 2015.
7. "Fantastic Fox cruises to Ras Al Khaimah victory". European Tour. 13 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
8. "Horsfield lands Soudal Open title after fending off Fox". Yahoo! Sport. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
9. Casey, Phil (29 May 2022). "Dundee-based Victor Perez claims Dutch Open title after four-hole play-off". The Scotsman. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
10. "Irish Open: Adrian Meronk becomes first Polish player to win on DP World Tour". BBC Sport. 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
11. "Alfred Dunhill Links: Ryan Fox wins by one shot at St Andrews". BBC Sport. 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
12. "DP World Tour: Tommy Fleetwood pips Ryan Fox to dramatic Nedbank Golf Challenge win at Sun City". Sky Sports. 13 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
13. "Ryan Fox relishing season finale after closing the gap to Rory McIlroy". European Tour. 13 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
14. "Ryan Fox sets sights on Augusta after stellar 2022 season". European Tour. 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
15. "Ryan Fox wins the 2022 Seve Ballesteros Award". European Tour. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
16. "Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee join the PGA Tour as Special Temporary Members". PGA Tour. 24 May 2023.
17. Kelly, Todd (17 September 2023). "Ryan Fox upstages European Ryder Cup team, wins 2023 BMW PGA Championship". Golfweek. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
18. Jackson, Glenn (7 December 2012). "Fox happy to follow in son's footsteps". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
19. "Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox and wife Anneke marry on Rakino Island". Stuff.co.nz. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
20. "'Very proud and slightly tired': Ryan Fox and wife Anneke announce birth of first child". Stuff.co.nz. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
21. "The fabulous Ryan Fox shows the All Blacks what it takes". stuff.co.nz. 20 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.

External links

• Ryan Fox at the PGA Tour of Australasia official site
• Ryan Fox at the European Tour official site
• Ryan Fox at the PGA Tour official site
• Ryan Fox at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
• Ryan Fox at Olympics.com
• Ryan Fox at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)