World No 1 keen on driving in New Zealand
A bit of rugby banter as rivals hit it off at golfing finale
He’s really keen to come down and play at some point.
Ryan Fox on Rory McIlroy
During the first round of the DP World Tour’s finale in Dubai, Rory McIlroy told his Kiwi playing partner Ryan Fox about his desire to travel down under and play the renowned Tara Iti and Te Arai Links courses near Mangawhai, north of Auckland.
“He’s really keen to come down and play at some point. He’s got a pretty busy schedule, so might not find the time for a while. But he’s pretty keen to get down to our end of the world and play some golf courses, which is cool,” Fox told the Weekend Herald after a battling opening round which left him plenty to do to stay in the hunt for the European Order of Merit title.
“Te Arai Links is quite a bit newer, so he’d not heard much about it, but he definitely knew all about Tara Iti. He’s spoken to Ric Kayne [the American billionaire behind the courses] quite a few times about it and I know Ric’s pretty keen to get him down at some stage.
“Rory is one of those guys who loves golf courses. So I think at some stage, if he gets a chance, he’d love to come down and play and get the whole experience and see a bit of New Zealand.”
Paired together for the first time, Fox says he was “scratchy” and struggled around the greens in carding a one-over par 73 which leaves him tied for 33rd. McIlroy fared only slightly better than the Kiwi, shooting one-under.
The pair are now chasing US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who has leapfrogged McIlroy and Fox into pole position to claim the Order of Merit title after a seven-under round. The Englishman is tied for the lead with countryman Tyrell Hatton.
“I started off with a few nerves but I feel like I didn’t hit it too bad. I probably only hit one really bad drive, but it just seemed like I was missing a lot and got punished pretty severely for it,” Fox said.
“I made a bogey on two from kind of nowhere on the par-five and then three-putted the third after driving in the rough. I was sort of on the back foot from there and for the most part played pretty solid after that — just couldn’t really get the ball close enough to the hole. So it was a bit of a slow start but pretty cool to play with the world No 1.”
Fox said McIlroy put him at ease ahead of the round.
“I chatted to him in the lounge before we teed off, so it started very early. But I found out something cool — apparently my dad [former All Black Grant Fox] had done coaching at some level on an All Blacks tour at Rory’s school and got a photo with his long-time coach Michael Bannon at the Holywood Golf Club where he grew up.
“We’re going to try to find the photo somewhere and show me. Rory’s coach was the one that ended up playing with dad and it was cool that there’s a bit of history, and he’s a big rugby fan as well.”
Contacted by the Weekend Herald, Grant Fox struggled to recall the meeting but gathered it must have been on the 1989 All Blacks end of year tour to Wales and Ireland when he visited Belfast.
The on-course banter with McIlroy still made an ordinary day of golf special for Fox.
“There was plenty of time for that when you’re with someone for a decent chunk of time, and we had a fair bit of waiting. We’ve got daughters of similar ages; his is a little bit older than our daughter.
“So there’s plenty in common there. It’s probably a bit hard when the crowds are so big — you don’t want your conversations aired out in front of everyone. But he’s a really nice guy and it was easy to talk to him.
“We both had a good time out there, just unfortunately for both of us, the golf wasn’t that great, although his was slightly better than mine.
“The only thing I really asked him was how long did it take him to get used to the circus.
“He’s the biggest name in golf outside of Tiger and he said it’s just kind of something that you get used to in the end, I don’t think there was a specific point. And then he pointed out, ‘You think it’s a circus now, and all of a sudden you play with Tiger, and it’s 10 times worse’.”
Despite being eight shots adrift of Fitzpatrick and Hatton, Fox felt he’s still in with a chance of claiming the Order of Merit title.
“I was probably a little bit tired. As weird as it sounds, it was quite hard to get up. It was a pretty long week last week, and pretty hectic travel to get here.
“So I think the biggest thing for me is just getting some good rest and going out and doing what I’ve done this whole year. I always play aggressive anyway. So there’s nothing to change in that regard.
“I’m still in a good position regardless. There’s a lot of guys up there who if they win, they’re not going to win the Order of Merit. So it’s just kind of watch out for Fitz and hopefully have a couple of good rounds and try to try to sneak a few places ahead of Rory.”
“That’s a lot easier said than done. I certainly didn’t play my way out of the tournament.”