Kiwi Fox in the hunt at PGA Championship
It’s not quite the grip-it-and-rip-it approach, but Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox feels like he has a free swing at this week’s final major of the year in St Louis, Missouri.
So far, so good on that front. Fox opened the US PGA Championship on the soft turf at Bellerive Country Club in promising fashion, at one stage holding the early lead, and finishing his opening round yesterday with a two-under-par 68 that has him poised, in a tie for 16th, just four shots off the lead held by American Gary Woodland.
The 31-year-old, playing his third major of the year, was rapt to slot two clutch putts on 17 and 18 to finish his round birdie-birdie and get into the red numbers he felt his round deserved.
He had turned at two-under, after birdies at the par-four first and par-five eighth holes, but then got unsettled by a frustrating delay at the turn and promptly gave those shots back with bogeys on 11 and 15 that has his round teetering on the brink.
Speaking to Stuff after a short postround stint on the driving range and a much needed mid-afternoon nap following an early tee-off, Fox tagged his day ‘‘pretty solid with a nice finish’’ on a course that was ‘‘right up my alley’’.
‘‘I felt like I played well enough to shoot under par, but let a couple of shots slip early on the back nine. It was nice to finish with those two birdies to end up with a score I felt I should have had,’’ he said. ‘‘It was a tough start to the back nine. We caught up to the guys off the 10th tee, and had a 25-minute wait. Unfortunately that killed the momentum I had.
‘‘But that’s part of golf and it was nice to finish with those birdies and get a decent score out of it.’’
Fox, coming off an impressive stint in Europe, certainly appears in the right headspace to give this a decent shake.
‘‘I’ve got nothing to lose. It’s a little bit of a bonus event,’’ he said of what is just his sixth career tilt at a major, but fifth in the last two years.
‘‘I wasn’t in the field till a couple of weeks ago . . . It’s a nice place to be. You can certainly play your way out of the tournament in the first round.
‘‘I’ve got nothing to lose for the rest of the week, and can just try to play some good golf, and hopefully be there or thereabouts come Sunday.
‘‘If not, it’s something to to learn from, and good to know my game stacks up against the best in the world for the most part.’’
Asked if he could let it rip again today when he tees off in the afternoon, Fox indicated a mindset predicated on not dying wondering.
‘‘The grip-it-and-rip-it approach is probably closer to how I play every week anyway. And I don’t treat this as any different because it’s a major. Getting to know a few of the guys more and not feel so intimidated has helped with the comfort levels. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to play well, but it certainly helps you to play well.’’
Fox credited a quality par on the testing 237-yard par-three 16th with helping to steady his round after those twin bogeys.
‘‘I made a decent eight-foot putt for par there, and that was big for the finish. I knew if had decent tee shots on 17 or 18, they’re both birdie chances. So mentally you’re still in a pretty good place.’’
Sure enough, driver, 3-wood saw him in the front bunker on 17, with a quality sand shot to three feet getting him back to one under. On 18 a big, straight tee shot, a gap wedge to around a dozen feet and a slick putt ‘‘left a pretty nice taste in mouth’’.
Putting isn’t always Fox’s forte. But he’s happy to have seen four birdie attempts slide into the hole.
‘‘I missed a couple of seven-eight footers for par which was frustrating . . . but you can’t hole everything, and I did hole my fair share today. The hard work is starting to pay off.’’
Meanwhile, Woodland rode his power to birdie the two par-fives en route to a sixunder 64 for a one-shot lead over Rickie Fowler.
Woodland birdied seven holes all up after a careless bogey on the opening hole, and had an 18-foot birdie attempt on 18, that would have tied the PGA Championship record, stop just short.
Fowler, playing in the morning, made five birdies over his last 11 holes for a 65.
Two-time major champion Zach Johnson and Brandon Stone of South Africa were at 66, while Dustin Johnson reached five-under until a few wild drives on the back nine saw him settle for a 67, along with Jason Day, Justin Rose and eight others.
Tiger Woods, who was three-over through seven holes, clawed his way back to finish on an even-par 70.
‘‘It was nice to finish with those two birdies to end up with a score I felt I should have had.’’
Ryan Fox