Ryan Fox defends Canadian Open title
Ryan Fox – holds the trophy for the 2025 Canadian Open – file image
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox gets the chance to defend a PGA Tour title for the very first time when he tees it up at the RBC Canadian Open in Toronto this week, Fox unable to defend his first PGA Tour win at Myrtle Beach in May, as he had qualified for the opposite Signature event, the Truit Classic at Quail Hollow that week.
Last year, Fox won a dramatic playoff when he defeated Sam Burns at the 4th extra hole at the same venue he tackles this week, the TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. He had earlier holed a lengthy putt at the 72nd hole just to get into the playoff.
Fox’s approach at the par 5 18th (the 4th occasion)with a fairway wood, after the hole had been relocated during the playoff, finished 6 feet from the hole, and although he missed the eagle attempt, the birdie secured the victory.
Fox also finished 7th in the event at another venue on debut in 2024.
Fox is one of four Australasians in the field, the others being Karl Vilips, the out-of-form Cam Davis, and Davis’s fellow Sydneysider, Declan O’Donovan, who earned his start by winning the Canadian Amateur Championship in Quebec last year.
Donovan has subsequently turned professional but is still eligible to take up his entry into the event.
Fox has recorded just the one top ten in eleven starts in his third season on the PGA Tour, but that 7th place was timely in that it came at the lucrative (US$20 million) Genesis Invitational, where he earned US$603,000.
The 39-year-old Aucklander is currently in 64th place in the FedEx Cup standings and has banked US$1,651,000 thus far.
As the defending champion, Fox faced the media on Wednesday and enthused about the prospect of defending such a significant win in his career.
“It’s always great coming back to a course that you’ve got good memories at,” said Fox. “I love the golf course. I love the fans here last year. They treated me really, really well. I’m just seeing that plaque on 18 for the first time, and that brought back a lot of memories that have shot.
“I still think it’s the best shot I’ve ever hit. Yeah, I’ve seen my face in a few different places this week than I would normally, and that’s pretty cool.”
Fox was asked about the memories he carried from last year’s win.
“I think it’s the shot on 18. Then the other one that comes to mind is I distinctly remember standing up there, waiting to get this trophy, and I saw my kids in the background, not caring, just throwing sand in the bunker on the back of 18. I’ve got a lot of memories of that, and I’ve had a few people say that to me as well, that they really enjoyed seeing that. That’s a big memory for me of last year, too.”
A plaque has been installed on the 18th to commemorate the magnificent fairway wood approach, which ultimately led to the win, and Fox had been excited at the prospect of seeing it first hand.
“I think the thing I was looking forward to the most was seeing the plaque on 18. I’ve never had one of those before, so that was a pretty cool novelty today. And today was the first time I saw it, literally 15, 20 minutes ago. So, to see that and also look at that second shot again and try to relive that memory. Yeah, that was pretty cool.”
Fox feels his game is not too far from where it needs to be for him to be a factor again this week.
“The game’s pretty close. I feel like I’ve said that a lot this year. There was a lot of good signs last week at Memorial. I played pretty decent for the most part at the PGA. I’ve just not really put everything together this year.
“There’s always something been wrong, whether I struggled with the putter, or last week I didn’t drive it great at Memorial. So, a week’s a long time in golf, and hopefully I can figure out how to put it all together this week, and, as I said, I like the golf course.
“I think that helps a little bit where you feel comfortable around a place, and it makes it easier to pick shots and commit to shots. So hopefully that helps me a little bit this week.”
Fox was asked his thoughts on the field this week, especially given the event’s place in the schedule as the lead-up event to next week’s US Open.
“I mean, for me, it seems like a stronger field than last year. Obviously, it’s a major for all the Canadians; all of the top Canadian guys are here, and it’s great to see.
“But having Brooks, Justin Rose, Tommy, Aaron Rai, Matt Fitz, his brother’s playing great as well. Yeah, I think this event holds — it’s a tough place in the schedule, there’s going to be guys just not wanting to play the week before a major, regardless of the event.
“There’s going to be guys that will play an event regardless the week before a major that they want to play. But I think it speaks to the history of this event. I think everyone who came out of this golf course last year really enjoyed it. I think we’ve got a stronger field than last year because of that, that everyone did enjoy themselves, that there’s such a great history at this event, and it is a pretty good warm-up for next week.
The US$9,800,000 event carries a first prize of US$1.764 million.
