Rain delays on final day for European Tour talent
Ryan Fox was not a name that sprang to mind when deliberating which golf professional would win the prestigious BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in Surrey, England. But that is exactly what happened at the weekend when Fox, the 36-year old player from New Zealand, won the tournament by one slim shot with a score of 18-under par leaving England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai trailing one adrift.
Tough year for Fox
Born in Auckland, Ryan Fox had experienced a tough year with the sudden death of his father-in-law just a few weeks after the birth of his second daughter in May. Precious time at home with his wife, Anneke was all he could cope with at that point. Hence, his expectations at the 44th staging of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth were pretty non-existent.
Surprisingly, however, Fox opened with a promising 3-under par 69 on Thursday which left him just outside the top 20 on the leaderboard. Denmark’s Marcus Helligkilde led the field with a magnificent opening round of 64. England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Scotland’s Richie Ramsay were tucked-in two shots behind.
From there on Fox’s golf just kept improving. On day two he shot a 4-under par 68 to creep-up the leaderboard to a share of 10th spot on 7-under. Now the Swedish players of Ludvig Åberg and Sebastian Söderburg had seized the lead on 10-under par with Söderburg shooting a superb 8-under on Friday.
Fox was playing good golf at Wentworth and amazingly he just kept his cool the whole tournament. On Saturday, he followed his 68 with a 6-under par 66. His game then took on a whole new dimension as he finished the round in an enviable share of 4th place on 13-under par with England’s Aaron Rai and Callum Shinkwin. Åberg was now leader on his own with a score of 16-under par. England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Scotland’s Connor Syme had the honour of sharing second place on 14-under par. The final day of play at Wentworth was set to provide an exciting finish to the BMW PGA Championship, especially as there was some poor weather predicted.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton was lurking in the wings along with the talented players of Jon Rahm from Spain and players like Viktor Hovland from Norway. Sunday would surely sort out the men from the boys in the mix at Virginia Water.
Hatton’s four-shot lead on Sunday
Indeed, Tyrrell Hatton had a four-shot lead over the field early on Sunday but then an 83-minute suspension turned the tied for the Englishman. He did continue to hold the lead over the closing holes with just a one-shot advantage.
Interestingly Ryan Fox made a disappointing triple-bogey at the par 4 third hole. The Kiwi decided then to just play for a decent finish not knowing that his back nine holes would deliver him a splendid run of six birdies to get right back into contention. And what an exciting finish to the tournament it was with some big names battling it out for victory.
Jon Rahm suffered four bogeys on the front nine before resurrecting his game with an eagle at the 12th hole followed by three birdies on the back nine including one at the 18th to secure a final tally of 16-under par for fourth spot.
Ryan Fox turned professional in 2012. In October 2022, he won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews in Fife, Scotland which was his third victory on the European Tour. Earlier in the season he lost out in a play-off to Frenchman Victor Perez on the fourth extra hole in the Dutch Open. Could the player from New Zealand sneak a surprise victory at Wentworth after all?
Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland had an impressive round of Sunday shooting the lowest score of the day with a 7-under par 65 which saw him soar up the leaderboard to a share of 7th place. Tommy Fleetwood (England) would have paid handsomely for this round instead he had to be content with a level par round of 72 which earned him sixth spot on 14-under.
Dutchman Joost Luiten played well at Wentworth too. The 37-year old from Bleiswijk shot rounds of 71, 70, 67 and 69 for a score of 11-under par for a share of 11th place.
England’s Aaron Rai was also one to keep an eye on. He had a wonderful opportunity to make an eagle at the 18th to get himself to 18-under par. Painstakingly his ball lipped the hole and stayed above ground. Hatton made birdie here too which left the two Englishmen at 17-under for the tournament in the clubhouse.
Ryan Fox then lined-up his six-foot birdie putt at the 18th and holed it with the greatest of style to give himself the outright victory by one shot at 18-under par in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
For Ryan Fox his triumph is an historic success as he becomes the first player from New Zealand to have ever won this event which dates back to 1955. This is his fourth European Tour title and the biggest win of his career with a handsome prize cheque of more than 1.4 million euros.
Many, many congratulations to you Ryan Fox! You are the enviable winner of the 2023 BMW PGA Championship. We are very proud of you!
Wendy Hoad
Editor
MAIN PHOTOGRAPH: Ryan Fox, the proud winner of the 2023 BMW PGA Championship. MINIS (l-r): Aaron Rai, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Ryan Fox.