(Reuters) – New Zealander Ryan Fox sealed his first U.S. PGA Tour title in spectacular fashion on Sunday with a 50-foot chip-in from the fringe of the green to win the Myrtle Beach Classic and give his wife the perfect Mother’s Day gift.
Fox celebrated with his wife, Anneke Ryff, and two young daughters after the stunning birdie chip won him a three-way playoff against Mackenzie Hughes and Harry Higgs and earned him a spot at the PGA Championship, which starts on Thursday.
“It’s Mother’s Day today,” Fox told reporters. “So my wife sort of joked on Friday when I said, ‘What can I get you for Mother’s Day?’ And she goes, ‘Well, a trophy would be nice’. So I guess I lived up to my end of the bargain there.
“To have the wife and kids here is amazing.”
With a father who played 46 times for the All Blacks and helped bring the inaugural World Cup to rugby-mad New Zealand, Fox was always going to have to produce something special in his golf career to shed the “son of” tag.
After claiming the prestigious BMW PGA Championship title in 2023 for his fourth win on the European Tour, he packed up his young family to try his luck in the United States.
“I haven’t transitioned probably as well as I would have liked over the PGA Tour,” the 38-year-old said. “It was tough last year, I managed to just keep my card, and it’s been a scratchy start this year as well.
“I always, deep down, felt like I could compete with the guys out here, I just haven’t been able to put it together. And I was very happy to do it this week.”
After signing for a final round five-under-par 66, Fox earned his spot in the playoff when Hughes blew a one-stroke lead with a bogey at the 18th and Higgs was only able to par the last.
“I don’t want to be pessimistic, but you kind of figure someone’s going to hole a putt on the last, that’s what normally happens,” Fox said.
“I kind of said to my caddie, regardless of what happens, I did all I could control really well out there. I was very chuffed to get another chance.”
Fox also earned a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and is hoping that certainty over his future will help kickstart his career stateside.
“In this game, you don’t get to win very often. You don’t get job security very often either,” he concluded.
“So it’s certainly nice to have that. And at the back of my mind, can feel like for the rest of the year, I can freewheel it a little bit. Hopefully that takes some pressure off.
“We’ll see how it goes in the next few weeks. But yeah, it’s feels like a monkey off my back, that’s for sure.”
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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