Ryan Fox chips in to win Myrtle Beach Classic, grab final PGA Championship spot
And the last spot in the 107th PGA Championship goes to…. Ryan Fox.
The 38-year-old Kiwi chipped in for birdie on the first playoff hole to beat Harry Higgs and Mackenzie Hughes on Sunday at the OneFlight Myrtle Beach Classic. He'll now head to Quail Hollow Club as the final entrant in the 156-player field.
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This will be Fox's seventh career PGA start and fourth straight. He's made five of his six previous cuts in the championship with his best finish coming two years ago when he tied for 23rd at Oak Hill.
Hughes was on the cusp of winning in regulation, but he missed a 10-footer for par at the Dunes Club's par-4 finishing hole to fall into a playoff with Fox and Higgs. On the second go around No. 18, Fox yanked his drive left into the trees and then missed the green just long, setting up a 50-foot chip, which he converted.
"I had a really similar line in regulation and missed the putt right," Fox said. "My caddie, Dean, said to me, 'Remember, this doesn't break that much.' So I just kind of aimed straight at it, and I hit the spot I wanted to hit, which is always a nice thing. About 8 feet out, to be honest, it never looked like it was going anywhere else, and the rest of it is a bit of a blur from there."
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Fox had won 17 times worldwide, including four times on the DP World Tour, before notching his maiden PGA Tour title on Sunday. Last season, his first on the PGA Tour, Fox notched just three top-10s in 24 starts before finishing No. 118 in FedExCup points after the fall, barely keeping his card.
"I spent 20 weeks on the road with two kids under 4," Fox said. "While it was great fun, I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone do it for very long. It was hard work, and I think that affected the on the golf course stuff. Yeah, I think it's just a comfort level. The level is a little bit stronger out here as well. ... You're playing a little bit of different style of golf. There's lots of little things that kind of go together that make it tough. I remember playing here with Bob MacIntyre last year, and he was struggling. Not enjoying it over here. Wanted to go back home. Spent three weeks at home and then went and won Canadian Open less than a month later."
This year hadn't been any better, as Fox entered Myrtle Beach ranked No. 138 in points with no top-10s.
And yet, he's now proven himself a winner.
"Always deep down felt like I could compete with the guys out here, just haven't been able to put it together," Fox said. "... I've had some pretty good shots down the stretch over in Europe. It was nice to do the same thing here. Regardless if I would have come out with a win or not today, I was really happy with how I played, and I could have taken a lot out of it. To get that win is extra special."
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