[Photo: Jonathan Bachman]
For the opening two events of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the first two holes of the Tour Championship, Ryan Fox wasn’t quite sure if he could hit the moon from the Sea of Tranquility off the tee. An exaggeration? Yeah, probably. But struggles and streaks are always magnified in golf, if only psychologically.
“Yeah, golf’s a strange game like that sometimes,” the reigning Open champion mused after completing a round that proved the point.
Having taken a three-week hiatus after his walk-off birdie provided a career-defining victory at Royal Birkdale, Fox has been a rusty Kiwi, finishing T-58 at the FedEx St Jude Championship and T-47 among 50 players in the BMW Championship to squeeze into his first Tour Championship with the 30th and final berth.
Then, with a light drizzle falling, he pumped two tee balls into parts relatively unknown at East Lake Golf Club leading to two bogeys, and here-we-go-again thoughts danced in his head. But at the par-4 third hole, after sneaking his drive into the right fairway, Fox got a sand wedge from 123 metres to dance left towards the pin and then into the cup for an eagle. All was suddenly right with the 39-year-old New Zealander, and he turned in a solid four-under 66 that provided the encouragement he needed.
“I was just trying to give myself a birdie putt after those first couple of holes. To see it go in just kind of settled everything down,” Fox, a three-time PGA Tour winner, said. “Me and Dean [Smith, his caddie] were joking about being even through three [holes]. Probably would have taken that in the conditions we started in. The rest of the day was actually pretty solid after that. It’s funny, golf just takes one shot sometimes to kind of find it, and that the one shot for me today.”
Photo: Kevin C. Cox
Scoring conditions were optimal to begin the PGA Tour’s season finale. Heavy showers that slowed up just before Fox and Tom Kim kicked off the opening round prompted officials to allow preferred lies in the fairways. Winds were nominal. A 66 was just a conversation starter next to Min Woo Lee’s career-low 62, but at least it was something worth talking about.
And laughing about, too. Fox’s reaction was one that had him almost doubled over. “I had not looked like hitting a good shot for the first two holes. It was kind of funny… the reason I was laughing was because I’d finally hit a good shot, and the good shot was perfect,” he said.
“I’ve actually hit some really good iron shots the past couple of weeks. I just couldn’t get it in play off the tee, and I wouldn’t say it was great today, but it was definitely an improvement,” he added. “Yeah, it was a more positive day than the past couple of tournaments.”
Fox hit seven of 14 fairways but lost more than one-and-a-half shots to the field off the tee. He countered that by gaining more than three shots on approach. After the eagle, Fox converted six birdies against two bogeys.
“I wasn’t close to a good shot the first two holes. I haven’t felt close with the longer stuff [driver] the last couple of weeks,” said Fox, who undoubtedly wants to see his game round into better form as he prepares for his first appearance in next month’s Presidents Cup. “But I definitely have something to take into tomorrow.”
All from one shot. It’s funny how that works.
