No one saw a Ryan Fox Open victory coming.
A – because he was a treble-figure price, and B – you literally can’t see him coming.
“It doesn’t even feel like you’re in the group. It just feels like we’re playing in a two-ball; you hit so fast. It’s just in the air,” Fox told us what Scottie Scheffler once said to him on tour.
You already know this, but 22 seconds after Sam Burns picked his ball from the hole on the 18th green at Birkdale on Sunday, his playing partner Fox was fist-pumping his way to his first Open victory after sinking the winning blow.
It was the first time a player had birdied the final hole at The Open to win by one shot since 1977. I was stood nestled in the grandstand to the side of the green, and before Burns could process another major disappointment, Fox was eyeing up a putt for the Claret Jug.
“I was always that way as a kid. I see things fast,” he said. “I was the same when I was playing cricket growing up. I played almost every sport growing up, and tennis I wanted to hit the ball hard, and cricket I wanted to hit the ball hard. Everything just happened fast. I was never methodical at anything, to be honest, and it just carried over into golf.
“It’s not that difficult to pick a shot and pick a club. I get in there, and it all happens quick. It’s always going to be between one or two clubs into a green, and I just see the shot quickly, pick a shot quickly, and the less time I have to think about it, the less bad stuff can creep in there.”
My word, how refreshing was that to hear, as Fox addressed the world’s media sat with the Claret Jug on the table in front of him.
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When you are on the ground at The Open, or indeed any golf tournament, the action is played at a glacial pace. It dawns on you once you pick a spot to stand or sit that you don’t see a ball or golfers for several minutes.
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On Saturday, a group of pals and I met and stood on a dune to the left of the 13th green at Birkdale, and you really wonder what on earth is going on sometimes. Balls appeared on the putting surface at a rate of sloths, and there is a distinct lack of momentum at times.
Different factors are at play. Field size, which is probably too big at The Open. The volume of fans, which can distract players on walkways, and there are probably too many fans. Weather conditions, which no one can help. But also, the length of time taken to play shots, which can be helped.
To dwell on this subject is to dwell on the existence of gravity. It doesn’t really get anywhere, but what we can talk about is Foxy, and the speedy and proactive attitude he has towards the game, which has now been rewarded with a major trophy.
“I can’t drive fast in New Zealand because we get too many speeding tickets. I would say just my brain works fast. That’s just how everything is. Yeah, it’s just always how I’ve seen it on the golf course,” he added.
“If you tried to slow me down and make me do everything slowly, I think I’d be pretty useless, to be honest.”
A conclusion I once came to was that you must need to be slow to be good. Maybe we should all take our time more, if that’s what it takes to win majors and earn millions.
But Fox has eliminated that theory. The fast approach works, squashing the chance of overthinking works, just getting on with it works. The man from Auckland, New Zealand, had already proven this with wins on the PGA Tour and at the BMW PGA Championship, but now he is in a new realm of success.
Not only did he win the tournament on the famous Southport links, but he also sprinted his way to a 62 on Saturday – the joint record for a men’s major.
Has there ever been a better advert for less dawdling than shooting 8-under-par around one of the world’s greatest championship venues?
The hope is now that the thousands of young people who watched Fox’s triumph from both the ground and the television will take note and start applying a bit of pace to their play.
Avoid that last look at the hole. Forget that 14th swing thought. Trust yourself, hit the ball and look at what can be achieved.
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What do you make of this Ryan Fox-pace of play column? Do you think players play too slowly, or is it a debate that we take too far? Tell us on Facebook!
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