Ryan Fox

Runner-up to Rory McIlroy on the 2022 DP World Tour Rankings and into the world’s top 25 after starting the year outside the leading 200.

Son of former New Zealand rugby great Grant Fox, the Aucklander kick-started things with a five-stroke success at the Ras Al Khaimah Classic, then in the space of eight weeks had three second places and a third.

The Dutch Open was particularly dramatic, Victor Perez staying alive in their play-off with putts of 20 and 30 feet before making a 40-footer to win. That revived memories of the 2018 Irish Open, where Russell Knox forced sudden death with a 40-foot effort at the last and repeated it to take the title.

But Fox, winner of the 2019 Australasian Tour Order of Merit, was not to be denied at October’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, beating Alex Noren and Callum Shinkwin by one for his third victory on the circuit.

He claimed the first of them at the 2019 ISPS Handa World Super 6 in Perth. Fox has had two other wins in Australia, while he represented New Zealand at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. His best major was his tie for 16th in the 2019 Open.