BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

September 17, 2024

Ryan Fox

Wentworth Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. What's it like seeing a 30-foot high picture of yourself?

RYAN FOX: Slightly embarrassing, slightly awesome. That's cool. I mean, yeah, it's hard to describe what it is. But yeah, seeing my name up there, seeing me up there, defending champion, is pretty amazing, and it's going to be a cool week to come back and defend here.

Q. How often do you sort of think misty eyed about Sunday last year?

RYAN FOX: I more think, why can't I get in that mental state more often. Like it was the calmest I've been on a golf course. Calmest I've been on this golf course coming down the stretch on a Thursday, let alone a Sunday with a chance to win.

So yeah, it was just a very, just in-the-zone experience last year. Like I didn't think about anything else but hitting the shot I hit. I was just in control and then it was a bit of a whirl wind last year. Looking back, those are memories I can't buy. Amazing to have those and looking back on the golf I played last year, it was calm and actually felt relatively easy. Wish I could get back there again.

You hit one perfect shot, like I can do that, and you don't hit another one for a hundred shots and you go, This game is so frustrating. I had probably one of the best nine holes of golf I'll ever play in my life on that back nine in Sunday last year. If it is the best nine holes of golf I'll of play, it was a good situation to do it in.

Q. You probably arrive under-golfed. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

RYAN FOX: Last year I did the same thing. I had five weeks off before The Irish Open. Played the Irish, and obviously really well here and played pretty well in Dunhill a couple weeks later. Didn't work out quite as well last week. But generally the first week back from a break is a bit scratchy, but I felt comfortable enough last week.

Q. Where are you mentally?

RYAN FOX: Mentally I'm probably still -- the last couple years, I've played a lot of golf, done a lot of travel. A lot of amazing things happened but I never felt like I had a proper break, like an off-season, three or four weeks at the end of the year and it's like go again really quickly and it's been the same again this year.

I look forward to hopefully a bit more of an off-season this year but it's hard to not come back here after what happened last year. So in that respect, I'm raring to go this week but you know, I think I've played 25 or 26 events already this year. This might be my 26th I think. This is more golf than I've probably played in a long time. So yeah, it's still probably a little bit burnt out.

Q. You come from a background where your old man would have played golf, rugby in the '80s when it wasn't macho to talk about your feelings and struggling with things. Is it something that comes easier to you?

RYAN FOX: Yeah, I think the whole narrative around that has changed over the last ten years. When my old man played, it was John Kirwan, the winger, that kind of started that whole conversation with New Zealand. He was playing for the All Blacks and was pretty open about his struggles with depression a bit later on, and that's kind of what started it, at least for us in New Zealand.

It's definitely more -- it's a bit easier to say that it's been a struggle when things have not been okay than they wouldn't have been okay five or six years ago. There's definitely been some challenges this year. I'm not saying it's all bad. There's been a lot of good things. It's just anyone who plays this game realizes it goes, ups-and-downs, and there's probably been a few more downs than ups this year. But I kind of felt the same thing in 2021, and 2022 was my best year at that point to date. Hopefully 2025 will be a bit of a rebound.