Strong start for Ryan Fox on PGA Tour
- NZ Sports Wire
- Mar 21
- 3 min read
New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox is inside the top-10 early in the first round at the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship.
Fox made four birdies and a bogey at the Innisbrook Resort - Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Florida on Thursday (Friday NZ Time), to sit second at three-under, one shot back the clubhouse lead as the afternoon wave hit the course.
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The 37-year-old Aucklander started his round with seven straight pairs, before a birdie at the par-three eighth.
He made back-to-back birdies at the par-four 12th and par-three 13th, and another at the par-four 16th, before his lone blemish, a dropped shot at the par-four closing hole, after three-putting from 16 feet, including missing a four-footer for par.
Fox will tee off his second round on Friday at 1.07pm local time (6.07am Saturday NZT).
On the Asian Tour, Kiwi Nick Voke is tied for 12th at four-under after the opening day at the International Series Macau tournament.
Voke rolled in six birdie putts and made two bogeys at the Macau Golf and Country Club on Thursday, to sit three strokes behind the leader, Masters-winning American LIV Golf star Patrick Reed.
Compatriot Denzel Ieremia had a colourful round, with just six pars. He made seven birdies and five bogeys in a two-under 68 to be tied for 35th.
At the WPGA Tour Australasia's Women's NSW Open, Kiwis Amelia Garvey and Hanee Song made equally strong starts on Thursday.
Garvey sits tied for fourth after a four-under 67, featuring five birdies and a bogey, in the opening round at the Wollongong Golf Club, while Song is in a share of 11th after a three-under 68, with four birdies and a bogey.
Wenyung Keh and Momoka Kobori (T37, even-par) are currently just above the projected cut-line, while Munchin Keh (T122, seven-over) has plenty of work to do.
Six NZ golfers are above the cut-line at the PGA Tour of Australasia's Heritage Classic after the first round on Thursday.
Tyler Hodge leads the way in a tie for 13th after a four-under 68 that included seven birdies and three bogeys, five shots off the lead, while Jimmy Zheng is in a share of 21st at three-under, making four birdies and a bogey.
Michael Hendry and Sungjin Yeo (T44, one-under), and James Hydes and Kerry Mountcastle (T62, even-par) made solid beginnings, but Tyler Wood (T89, two-over) and Josh Geary (T114, six-over) have a lot of work to do.
At the HotelPlanner (formerly Challenge) Tour's Delhi Challenge in India, Sam Jones sits in a share of 49th on a congested leaderboard after the first round.
The Taranaki left-hander started slow, with two bogeys on the front-nine, before four birdies on the back side, finishing with a two-under 70 to be just five shots behind the five-way tie for the lead.
Meanwhile, at the DP World Tour's Singapore Classic - featuring Kiwis Daniel Hillier and Kazuma Kobori - rain cancelled play on Thursday. The first round will now be played on Friday and second round on Saturday.
