At the age of 36, the New Zealander is, fresh off a career-best 2022 season, a bona fide star on the DP World Tour. But this week he has returned to at least one mundane pack, as one of 32 tournament debutants in the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

“It is a badge of honour to be here,” says Fox, who totted up two wins, four second places and four other top-10s on the former European Tour last year. “I’ve played in quite a few majors, but this is the first one of these. It’s a hard event to get into and it’s one I dreamed of playing in as a kid. It is one of the iconic courses in the game, one everyone feels like they know from watching this event every year. I’m excited to be here.”

Which is as it should be. Fox arrives here in Jacksonville fresh off a T14 finish at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational highlighted by a second-best-of-the-final-day five-under-par 67. His start to this calendar year may not have produced quite the level of fireworks he displayed during a 2022 season in which he finished second to Rory McIlroy on the Race to Dubai, but the most recent signs are clearly trending in the right direction.

“I’m really happy with how I played last week,” confirms Fox. “I was a bit scrappy the first couple of rounds. But after I made the cut Sunday is probably the best I’ve played all year. I hit the ball as well as I have done in a long time. Hopefully I can take that into this week. 

“My career is progressing steadily. Which is a nice feeling. I’m a lot more comfortable in events like this because of how well I played last year. It’s not like I just won a random event and found myself here. I’m not out of my depth. I’ve played with a lot of the top guys now in big events. I’ve been in contention a lot. I’ve got a lot less of the ‘imposter syndrome’ going on. I had that early on in my career, especially in majors. Playing with guys I grew up watching on television I had the feeling of not really deserving to be there. Last year changed that though. I played consistently well. So, something would be wrong with me if I felt like I didn’t deserve to be here.”

“I was still nervous playing with Rory in Dubai earlier this year. I see my name beside his in the draw and still scratch my head a bit. It’s still a bit weird and I still feel like I shouldn’t be in that situation. But when I got out on the course, I felt so much more comfortable." – Ryan Fox.

Even better things are on the immediate horizon too. On Monday, Fox is scheduled to make his way to a certain city in nearby Georgia. Once there, he will spend two days at Augusta National familiarising himself with the course where, next month, he will make his maiden appearance in the Masters. It’s an important trip. Like many first-timers before him, Fox wants to get the novelty of the place out of his system as much as possible before he tees-up for real.

The likelihood is that this unassuming son of All Black legend, Grant, will do just that. More and more, Fox is comfortable playing alongside the biggest names in the game, which is something, he is quick to admit, that wasn’t always the case. 

“There was a bit of pressure on me at the start of this year after such a great 2022,” he says. “I turned up in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and my face was on all the billboards. I found that hard to get used to. Also, I was being paired with the top guys on Thursday and Friday.”

But victory last year in the Dunhill Links championship at another of golf’s most celebrated venues changed the three-time DP World Tour winner forever.

“I was on the 9th hole at St. Andrews when I looked up at the leaderboard,” recalls Fox. “Rory was making a charge. I saw his name up there. In previous years I would probably have crapped myself and not played that well on the back-nine. But I birdied 9, 10 and 15 and won the tournament. So, it was clear to me that I wasn’t so intimidated in a scenario like that one. It was a bit of an ‘ah-ha’ moment for me. 

“I was still nervous playing with Rory in Dubai earlier this year,” he continues. “I see my name beside his in the draw and still scratch my head a bit. It’s still a bit weird and I still feel like I shouldn’t be in that situation. But when I got out on the course, I felt so much more comfortable. It’s all a learning experience. But I feel like I’m dealing with it pretty well.”

That much is clear for one of the most popular figures on the Old World circuit. Last year, despite losing out to McIlroy on the season-long points race that climaxed in the Middle East, Fox topped the vote of his peers that saw him win the Seve Ballesteros Award that goes to the ‘player’s player of the year.’

Ryan Fox has one of pro golf's most recognisable swings. PHOTO: Getty Images.

All of which was the end result of much hard work on both the mental and technical sides of this often infuriating game. The owner of a distinctive action all his own – amidst a sea of sameness, his swing is easily discernible, even from a distance – Fox has been helped by performance coach, Karl Morris and swing guru Jamie Gough.

“I’ve been working with Karl on just trying to beat the golf course and not worry about anything else,” says Fox. “I focus purely on hitting the shots to ‘beat’ the holes. Then in 2021 I started working with Jamie.

“My coach in New Zealand couldn’t travel during Covid, so I asked Jamie – who works with a couple of my mates – if he could take a look at me. We haven’t reinvented the wheel. But having eyes on me every week has been beneficial. I have someone to lean on and I don’t get too far ‘outside the lines.’ It’s still golf and I can lose my way, of course. But it doesn’t take me as long to find it again.” 

As to his prospects this week, Fox was typically making no outlandish claims. But there was a quiet confidence about what he did have to say on the subject.

“Everything is new to me here,” he says. “So, it’s easier to have lower expectations for myself. I’m playing here and trying to figure out the course playing against guys who have been here 15 times. But it is also easier to get ‘up’ for these events. These are dream events I’m playing in right now. I feel like I’ve got nothing to lose and nothing to prove.

“I like the course,” he continues. “I can see both sides of it. If you play bad there is a lot of trouble out there. But it’s not super-long. If you hit good shots, there are plenty of birdie opportunities out there. The greens aren’t too sloping. But if you miss in the wrong places you’re in trouble. I can see how guys have shot well under par and I can also see how you can shoot 80 pretty quickly. But if I hit the ball like I did on Sunday I can play well round here.”