GUIDING SPIRIT
Fox inspired to win by late pal Warne as McIlroy falls short on the Old Course
RYAN FOX was inspired to secure the biggest win of his career yesterday by the memory of his close friend, Australian cricket legend Shane Warne.
Warne passed away earlier this year at the age of 52, but New Zealander Fox claimed that he was with him in spirit at the Old Course as he came from four shots back to win the Dunhill Links Championship.
Fox, who closed with a 68 to deny England’s Callum Shinkwin and Swede Alex Noren by a shot on 15-under-par, said: ‘The only person I can really think of at the moment is Warnie. We were great mates and it’s just a shame he’s not here.
‘But I definitely felt like he was there with me today. He was one of my idols growing up and we played together the last four years. He absolutely loved this tournament.
‘The last time I saw him was
“The last time
I saw him was here last year”
here last year when we finished second in the team event and he was buzzing.
‘He’s been missed by a lot of people this week, especially me. It was a strange feeling but it felt like he was there helping out and it’s certainly nice to do it for him.
‘I can’t say what he would have been saying had he been here, but knowing Warnie, he would probably have been trying to see how many vodka Red Bulls we could get in the trophy.’
Fox, the son of a rugby league international, began the year 213th in the world rankings but is now projected to rise to 25th after his second victory of the season following his initial success at the Ras al-Khaimah Classic and three second-place finishes.
That guarantees him a Masters debut, but he added: ‘I haven’t had a chance to think about that yet. But it doesn’t get much better than this, winning at St Andrews.
‘To say I’ve won a tournament on the Old Course, which so many great champions have done, and to add my name to that list is very, very cool.”
Fox had previously never finished higher than 28th, but a sensational 56-foot birdie putt at the 16th set up his third career win, worth £763,000.
Fox shed a shot at the Road Hole, but a par at the last got the job done when Shinkwin signed for a 68 and Noren carded 69.
It appeared at one stage that Rory McIlroy was about to exact a measure of revenge for the heartache he was forced to endure at the Home of Golf three months ago when he had looked poised to win a second Claret Jug, only to finish third.
McIlroy revealed that he had set himself a target of 64 and the 33-year-old four-time major champion was firmly on track when he posted a sixth birdie at the 13th to share the lead.
However, three straight pars followed by a bogey at the penultimate hole effectively put paid to his hopes, even though he finished with a flourish when he closed with another birdie.
McIlroy reflected: ‘I played well again and I did everything that I wanted to do. But when I didn’t make birdie on 14 that sort of halted the momentum and it was a bit of a struggle on the way in.
‘It was nice to birdie the last but I think I’ll probably come up a couple short.’
The Holywood ace was eight shots behind at the start of the round but had that ideal target score in mind.
‘Once I birdied 13, the two birdie holes coming in were 14 and 18 and if I could birdie one more, that’s what I wanted to get to minus 16. So then not birdieing 14 was a bit of a momentum killer.
‘I ended up making two good pars on 15 and 16. 17 is actually playing pretty tough with that wind off the right. 18 is obviously an easy birdie so… yeah, I came up two or three short of my target. And it looks like that target would have been good enough to at least get in a play-off.’
McIlroy, runner-up in 2009, 2011 and 2014, was ultimately forced to settle for a share of fourth with Frenchman Antoine Rozner, two back after posting consecutive 66s over the weekend.
The pressure got to Englishman Richard Mansell, who has yet to win on tour. Having begun the final round with a four-shot cushion, the 27-year-old from Staffordshire carded 76 to finish equal seventh on 11-under.
Padraig Harrington was the only other Irishman to survive the cut and finished in a tie for 17th on nine under. The Dubliner crowned a consistent week’s golf with a 70 to follow his 69, 71 and 69.
The team event was won by Shinkwin and New York art dealer Alex Acquavella.
“I came up two
or three short of my target”