Masters: Seeing Augusta National for first time will be cool - debutant Ryan Fox
- Published
Ryan Fox's family, including New Zealand rugby union legend Grant Fox, were at another famous course for his Alfred Dunhill Championship win at St Andrews in 2022
The 87th Masters |
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Venue: Augusta National, Georgia Date: 6-9 April |
Coverage: Live text commentary of all four rounds on BBC Sport website. Live radio commentary on Thursday from 20:00 BST and Friday from 21:00, on Saturday from 21:00 and Sunday from 20:00 |
Searching for sporting celebrities in galleries lining Masters fairways can be a fruitful business. NFL quarterbacks abound. England captain Harry Kane was there last year and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is no stranger to Magnolia Lane.
And for the 87th Masters look out for a New Zealand rugby legend because the great All Black fly-half Grant Fox will be in attendance, with more reason than most for being there.
Fox and wife Adele will be supporting their son Ryan, one of the most popular figures on the DP World Tour, as he makes his Augusta debut.
The 36-year-old won the Seve Ballesteros Players' Player of the Year award on the European tour in 2022 and his impressive body of work was enough to comfortably earn a year-ending top-50 berth and therefore Masters eligibility.
But the arrival for the first time of one of those famed Masters invitations was not quite the memorable moment one might expect - because it came in instalments.
"To be fair it was a bit of an anti-climax for me," Fox told BBC Sport.
"I knew I was in the field before Christmas and I'd got an email from whoever was delivering it saying it was delayed and it was from Augusta. And then I got one saying it had arrived while I was away on summer holidays with the family.
"We had a couple of storms come in and I actually had to get my neighbour to grab it out of the letterbox for me to make sure it didn't get soaked.
"So I got a photo of the actual package and when I got home and opened it, it was like 'OK, cool, it's here, it's great'. My wife is going to get it framed and chuck it up on the wall."
At the start of 2022, Fox was ranked outside the top 200 in the world but embarked on what proved the best season of his 10-year professional career.
It brought an early victory at the Ras Al Khaimah Classic and, most impressively, the Alfred Dunhill Championship at St Andrews last autumn, when he held off a chasing pack that included Rory McIlroy.
Those victories were among eight top-four finishes. The New Zealander was in the thick of the Race to Dubai and was sent out in the final pairing with McIlroy at the start of the season-ending DP World Championship.
In March he made his debut at the Players Championship, a week after finishing impressively at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. He ended up in a share of 14th place after scraping past the cutline.
Then Fox made his first visit to Augusta. He said it was "to get the novelty out the way so I can go into the tournament week and treat it like a normal tournament".
Nevertheless he knows it will be a landmark time in his career. "I've got some mates coming up from New Zealand for it and mum and dad are coming up so it's going to be a pretty big week," he said.
"I mean, its something I've dreamed of playing. I didn't know if I would ever get a chance to play it and I can't wait for 6 April."
Fox believes he has shed an "imposter syndrome" that had been holding him back.
"The first couple of majors I played you go 'they're guys I grew up watching on TV, I don't know if I actually deserve to be here'," he said.
"Whereas you look at last year and how I played consistently, something would be wrong if I didn't feel like I deserved to be here. It's nice, I know a lot more of the guys as well so there's a bit more comfort level in that."
When Fox drives down Magnolia Lane his mind will undoubtedly turn back to his formative years when, because of the massive time difference, the Masters on New Zealand television provided great Monday morning entertainment.
"It'll be cool to see it for the first time after seeing it on TV for so many years," he said.
"When I was growing up all my mates used to get up on a Monday morning at 6am and watch five or six hours of coverage. I was certainly the same.
"New Zealand's always been pretty sports mad, especially if we've got someone going OK, so I'm sure there'll be plenty of Kiwis watching and hopefully I can do them proud."