Fox fails to fire but rising Kiwis in hunt

Ryan Fox has missed the cut at the Australian PGA in Brisbane, but two rising Kiwi stars have stepped up in his place.

Fox was one of the favourites for the event that features Australia’s best players and a few DP World Tour regulars, but his busy recent schedule counted against him as he shot rounds of 72 and 74 to sit at four-over and miss the cut by three strokes.

However, the Kiwi duo of Denzel Ieremia and Daniel Hillier will be in the hunt over the weekend.

Ieremia carded rounds of 67 and 68 to sit in a tie for fifth at sevenunder, just three shots off the lead held by Australian world No 220 Jason Scrivener.

The 26-year-old Ieremia showed his potential in 2019, with top-10 finishes at the Australian PGA, Australian Open and NSW Open, but struggled for opportunities after Covid struck. However, a season on the Latinoamerica PGA Tour was followed by three top-12 finishes in Australia in the past month to show signs of regaining his best form.

Also near his best is 24-year-old Hillier, who backed up winning his DP World Tour card this season by beginning the new campaign with rounds of 69 and 67 to sit at six-under in a share of 10th.

Fellow Kiwi Nick Voke is at threeunder, while Josh Geary was the only other Kiwi to make the cut, jumping 72 places after a three-under second round moved him to even par.

Kiwi-raised Korean Chang Gi Lee was at seven-under, but reeled off three straight bogeys on the back nine to fall to four-under.

Scrivener leads by one over world No 3 and local favourite Cam Smith, with Aussie Cameron John and Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura a shot further back, while Poland’s Adrian Meronk — looking for a win to vault into the world top 50 and qualify for the Masters — is at seven-under.