Lee, Fox and Scott eyeing Tour Championship starts at BMW Championship
Ryan Fox – life’s a little different now – file image USGA
An eight month battle gets closer to its climax this week, when the penultimate event of the race for the FedEx Cup is held at the Bellerive Country Club in St Louis in Missouri, the leading 50 in the standings, present this week with the aim of not only taking some of the US$20 million on offer but reaching the leading 30 who graduate to next week’s US$40 million Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Amongst the field of 50 are three Australasians, still headed by Min Woo Lee in 18th place ahead of Ryan Fox (25th) and Adam Scott (27th).
Bellerive Country Club hosts the event for just the second occasion, having first staged the championship in 2008 when Camilo Villegas was successful.
Min Woo Lee is a shoo-in to reach Atlanta, but Fox and Scott, while well enough positioned, will need to watch their backs if they are to progress to the final, Scott for the 14th time and Fox for the first occasion.
Given his significantly higher standing in the game now that he is a major championship winner, Fox was one of the players asked to speak to the media on Tuesday and had this to say about this week’s event and the Bellerive Country Club test, which he played in the PGA Championship in 2018.
“I do remember just walking off it and going, That was a great golf course. I played nine holes yesterday and the same thing. It’s strong, you’ve got to control your ball really well. I thought — obviously they have redone the greens, I think since 2018, so they’re, I think, a little bit different. My memory is a bit fuzzy on the greens. But I just remember it being one of those golf courses that you got off and you go, I enjoyed playing that. Like, it was hard, but it’s fair, and it rewarded good shots.
“So it’s always nice coming back to a golf course like that. From what I saw yesterday, it’s exactly the same. I’m looking forward to going to see the back nine later on today as well. I remember there’s some pretty cool holes on that back nine.”
Fox returned to tournament golf last week in Memphis a bit underdone given the understandable follow-up to his Open Championship victory.
“I mean, the last month has been a bit crazy, to be honest. Obviously, my world has changed, and I’m still trying to get used to that. So, it was good to get back last week. It felt like I could kind of use the golf course a little bit as my sanctuary, that I can just go back and play golf.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t go as I had hoped. I didn’t play as poorly as the score suggested, but I struggled on the greens last week and finally saw a few putts drop on Sunday.
“I probably didn’t have the prep that you would normally have going in. Like, I wouldn’t plan on having three weeks off in the middle of a year, especially in the lead-up to the playoffs. But I felt like I had to go home to New Zealand while it was still fresh, celebrate properly. Which I’m really glad we did that.”
