Ryan: I’ll tackle it like dad
Ryan Fox believes he has inherited his mental toughness from his World Cup-winning dad after he helped him rediscover his love for the game.
The Kiwi, who raced up the leaderboard at Quail Hollow on Friday thanks to a second- round 66, is the son of legendary All Blacks fly-half Grant.
The world No.101 gave up playing rugby because he was “targeted” at school.
And after three top-five finishes on the European Tour in his last four starts Fox is now playing his first pro event in the States.
The 30- year- old said: “There are not necessarily a lot of parallels between rugby and golf but there are a lot of parallels between goal kicking and golf. And obviously dad was pretty decent at that for the most part. I would like to think of myself as pretty mentally tough on the course. I can definitely thank dad for that.
“I have been very close to chucking it in, maybe twice but definitely once.
“At the end of my second year as a professional in 2012 I was really struggling with everything. I was going to find another career and I had a big chat to dad about it. He said, ‘ Why do you enjoy golf?’ and I said, ‘ Well, it’s supposed to be fun’.
“That seemed to work. I finished fifth the following week and made enough to keep my Tour card.
“I am still happy to be known as Grant Fox’s son – there is no issue there. But I don’t mind being recognised as Ryan Fox the golfer every now and then too.”