Ryan Fox said he is hoping that a good week will help him mount a challenge on Eugenio Chacarra’s lead at the top of Race to Dubai Ranking delivered by DP World as he makes his debut at this week’s Genesis Championship.
The Open Champion arrives in South Korea following a missed cut in India, but feels positive about where his game stands after a second round of 70 as he bids to chase down some ground on those ahead of him.
Currently sixth on the Race to Dubai, the five-time DP World Tour winner is acutely aware of Chacarra’s lead but knows a victory at the final event of the regular season could potentially lift him as high as fourth ahead of the DP World Tour Play Offs.
“I want to play well this week to push my way up the Race to Dubai and see if I can contend although Eugenio Chacarra has made that pretty tough the last few weeks,” Fox told the DP World Tour on Wednesday.
“I actually feel pretty good. I played really nice the second round in India. I struggled a little bit the first round. I just hit it in the rough the whole time and that golf course wasn't very fun to play from the rough. The second round I only missed one fairway and had a couple more putts gone in and a couple of short putts gone in and I would have been around for the weekend.
“So I actually felt really positive about the ball striking and I've always had a little bit of an issue with some grainy greens and last week was a little bit that way as well. We've got a little bit different greens this week thankfully and something that I'm a bit more familiar with. I grew up on greens pretty similar to these so the golf game still feels pretty good and hopefully I can put it all together this week.”
Fox's breakthrough Major Championship victory at Royal Birkdale in July has helped fuel an impressive campaign on both the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour, with the New Zealander arriving in Korea still harbouring ambitions of mounting a late-season charge in the Race to Dubai.
The World Number 22 recorded top-ten finishes at the BMW PGA Championship, RBC Canadian Open and The Genesis Invitational, while also making his Presidents Cup debut for the International Team. He currently occupies the highest position of his career in the Official World Golf Ranking and is aiming to improve on his runner-up finish in the 2022 Race to Dubai.
The 39-year-old has also enjoyed travelling with the Claret Jug in recent months as he balances a schedule spanning both sides of the Atlantic.
“I played a bunch in Korea early on in my professional career and it was always a very enjoyable place to come and play. I'm surprised I've taken this long to come back, but I'm looking forward to the week.
“I've been trying to do it the last couple of years as well, just play worldwide, but the focus has mainly been on the PGA Tour. So yeah, it's nice to have a little bit of that pressure off at the end of the season and come and play some great events out on the DP World Tour and, as I said, get to show the Claret Jug off a little bit as well.”
Now returning to Korea for the first time in over a decade, Fox is relishing the challenge of Woo Jeong Hills Country Club, a golf course that he believes places a premium on driving the ball.
“We've got a great golf course this week. You get to drive a bunch this week which is nice. Definitely a lot of elevation change so clubbing is going to be quite difficult this week. I think lots of up and down.
“I think being in the right place on the greens is going to be important. There's quite a few slopes around some of the greens around here. We don't have a lot of rough so I don't think the premium is on driving the ball too much but I think length is definitely going to help around here.
“It's got a bit of yardage so I think it's going to be a little bit cold this week as well. Golf course will play extra long but it's a fun golf course to play. There's some tricky shots around here but I like the look of it so far and looking forward to getting out there tomorrow.”
