How many New Zealand-born golfers in the prior 107 times hosting of the Crown Australian Open have won Australia’s leading championship?
It’s a question I should know the answer but after checking the records of the championship it came as big surprise to learn a golfer from Australia’s nearest neighbour has not been handed the Stonehave trophy.
Indeed there has been just one Kiwi runner-up and that being John Lister in 1977 who ended in a three-way tie for second behind Aussie David Graham at The Australian Club in Sydney.
I begin this article with this theme after curent top-ranked Kiwi Ryan Fox battled the first round tough conditions to share the lead at six-under after the opening day of the co-sanctioned event.
The dual winner on this year’s PGA Tour grabbed an big haul of eight birdies, dropping just two shots, to be tied atop of the board with Aussie Elvis Smylie and Mexican Carlos Oritz, and with the trip two clear of the trio of Frenchman Clement Charmasson, rookie Scot Cameron Adam and Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
Fox has enjoyed the best year of his pro career within two PGA Tour titles in the space of five events and while the efforts are his only top-10s this season he’s assured himself as the current World No. 41 has assured himself of qualifying for all four majors next year and for only a second occasion in his career.
However it’s the Australian Open that currently has Fox’s attention and he spoke of the ‘toughness’ of the first day playing conditions.
“I had a good par putt on 18, so I can’t complain”, he said.
“It’s was a tough day out there today. I think if they hadn’t of slowed the greens down, we would’ve struggled to play through the middle of the day there. It got pretty nasty and yeah, I was very, very happy with the score today.
“The last couple of holes kind of felt nice. It felt like the wind died away a little bit, but the rest of the day it was brutal. I mean, if he hit at the wrong time and got a gust, like Si Woo on seven I think, hit an eight iron that went like a hundred yard because he got a massive gust of wind.
“There’s also a little bit of guesswork in there today and a little bit of timing as well, and thankfully felt like I got it right most of the time.
“I would’ve taken even par today. This golf course is tricky enough. There’s obviously a lot of trouble, especially with all the crosswinds. It’s pretty wide off the tee for the most part, if you hit the right club, but with all the cross winds, you can get yourself in a lot of trouble.
“So I was very happy I managed to stay away from all the bad stuff today and holed a couple of putts early and sort of kept me on my way and hung on through the middle, through the really tough stretch of holes there, and then took advantage of the par fives and a couple of good wedge shots coming home”.
And there was an obvious question to Fox, and a great friend to the late Shane Warne, what would it mean to him to be travelling home across the Tasman Sea with the trophy for company.
“Yeah, it would be a little nice little early Christmas present, I reckon,” he said.
“Obviously it’s such an fabulous event.
“Rory said it in the dinner on Tuesday in his Q&A that there’s so many great names on this trophy and I’d certainly love to add my name to it. And I put myself in good position, obviously, but there’s a whole lot of golf to be played and I expect Royal Melbourne to get some of its own back on me at some point during the week”.
Well said Ryan and keep it going.
