Grant Fox, Ryan Fox.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox celebrates at the British PGA Championship in Surrey, England. (Photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP)
Father Grant (64) is an All Black rugby legend, son Ryan (39) makes his mark on the golf course instead.
That’s what 39-year-old New Zealander Ryan Fox showed on Saturday afternoon at the Royal Birkdale Golf Course in Southport, England, in the third round of this year’s British Open when he came out strong.
A day after two players, the Australian Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns from America, equaled the record for the lowest round in a Major Championship with rounds of 62, Ryan Fox also managed it on Saturday.
Fox carded nine birdies and conceded just one stroke on his way to a 62.
His round put him at 8 under par.
At the end of the third round, Fox was just two shots behind Burns, who followed up his 73 and 62 with a 65 in the third round for a total of 200 (-9).
Burns was initially not scheduled to play in the British Open as he and his wife, Caroline, awaited the birth of their second child.
Their baby girl was born on July 3 and Burns was able to hurry to England.
Fox and Si-Woo Kim (South Korea) were joint second with 202 strokes (-8) with Herbert and the American Ryan Gerard joint fourth with 203 strokes (-7).
The Americans, Bryson De Chambeau and Jackson Suber, as well as Ludvig Åberg (Sweden) were together sixth at 204 (-6).
Among the South Africans, Hennie du Plessis and Casey Jarvis were together on 208 (-2), with Shaun Norris on 209 (-1), MJ Daffue on 211 (+2) and Aldrich Potgieter on 212 (+2).
Fox’s father, Grant Fox (64), played in 46 tests and he was in the team that won the first World Cup in 1987.
He scored a total of 645 points for the All Blacks and was with the New Zealand Cavaliers in South Africa in 1986, as well as in 1992 with the All Black touring team that beat the Springboks 27–24 at Ellis Park.
Ryan Fox (Photo: Christian Kolbert/AFP)
Ryan played rugby and cricket at school, but then decided to focus on golf.
He has already teed off in 28 Major tournaments and could only finish in the top 2 twice.
He has at least won two tournaments in the American PGA Series and boasts four victories in the DP World Tour (European Series).
On Saturday, he took his chances in the British Open and was on his way to scoring 61 shots.
His 18-yard birdie putt on the 18th hole ended up short of the hole.
He said the possibility of a 62 “probably started to cross my mind at the 10th hole, but it wasn’t really there.”
He added: “When I birdied the 14th hole, I thought: ‘Now I have a chance.'”
He recorded birdies on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 8th holes for a first nine of only 29 shots, and then four more birdies on the 10th, 14th, 16th and 17th holes.
He stumbled on the 13th hole for the first time.
“It’s nice to be in that frame of mind,” Fox said. “Hopefully I can manage something similar again on Sunday.”
“To be honest, I warmed up better on Friday,” he said of his second round.
“I played well and was 4 under through the first 11 holes, but struggled a bit after that. Golf doesn’t always make sense.”
Fox’s 62 marked the eighth time in Major Championship history that score has been recorded.
With that, he joined Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler, who both managed it twice, as well as Shane Lowry, Branden Grace, Herbert and Burns.
* In the DP World Tour (European Series) Corales Puntacana Championships played in Corales, Tood Clements of England leads by two shots after the third round with 198 strokes (-18).