Fox fires up for fun as format changes

When Ryan Fox is called to the tee box at TPC Louisiana this week, he and caddie Dean Smith won’t be making the walk alone.

This week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans is unlike the usual tournaments on the PGA Tour as instead of individual stroke play, golfers compete in teams of two with the format alternating between best-ball [fourball] and alternate shot [foursomes] daily.

Fox will team with South African Garrick Higgo for this week’s event; a partnership that came together on several different levels.

“We’re under the same manager which worked really nicely. I think there was a bit of a push from the Presidents Cup side of things to get some internationals to be paired together as well,” Fox told the Herald.

“I’ve got a South African caddie, he’s got a New Zealand caddie, so we kind of even ourselves out this week.

“It’s nice to play with someone I get along with really well and have plenty in common with. He loves rugby and loves sports and stuff like that, so we’re just going to have a bit of fun this week.”

There are no world ranking points up for grabs this week, but the tournament does offer points towards the athletes’ FedEx Cup standings.

Fox said it was a good opportunity to get more familiar with other Presidents Cup international hopefuls, particularly as he and Higgo are playing against Taiwanese duo CT Pan and Kevin Yu.

The Presidents Cup is a team event in which a team of international golfers compete against a team from the United States. European golfers don’t qualify, as Europe takes on the USA in the Ryder Cup — the two events are played on alternate years. This year’s Presidents Cup is in Canada in September.

“The international team hasn’t done that well over the last few years and they’re really pushing us to change a few things up, get to know each other a little bit better and get some camaraderie going,” Fox said. “Even if we make the team or not, I think that’s really good to all feel like we’re part of it going forward.”

Fox is hoping to play his way on to the team after being snubbed in 2022, and heads to TPC Louisiana with some form behind him after a solid showing at the Masters.

He said it was the week during his time on the PGA Tour this year that he came away with some confidence, and despite having last week off he felt like he could ride that momentum.

However, the different format does throw up a few curve balls.

“Foursomes is always the interesting one. The scores tend to vary a lot in that and it can be a really hard format to play,” he said.

“Four-ball’s really fun to play; you just kind of go at everything for the most part and hope one of you is going to make par and the other is going to have a chance to birdie or you both get a really good chance to birdie and there can be some really low score shots, and then it’s kind of hold on for dear life in foursomes.

“It’s nice to play something different in that regard and I think everyone kind of treats it as a much more fun week.”

He loves rugby and loves sports and stuff like that, so we’re just going to have a bit of fun this week. Ryan Fox