HORIZON IRISH OPEN

June 30, 2022

Ryan Fox

Mount Juliet Estate

Quick Quotes

Q. Just another flawless performance once again. 8-under. Just how pleased are you with that?

RYAN FOX: I'm more surprised, to be honest, than anything else. I've been fighting it on the range the last couple days after the weekend, and certainly didn't look like it early in the round. I made a couple of birdies, but I was scrapping away, and then stop and collect on 7, 8, hit a great wedge shot in there and made a few putts as well.

So just one of those days that I guess patience is -- shows how important patience is in a round of golf, and from first six holes I felt like 2-under would have been a great score. And then the last 10 holes, I felt like I could have shot anything, to be honest.

Q. You lost your voice last week, and you've said that you felt a little bit under the weather. How are you feeling over all this week, in particular today?

RYAN FOX: Yeah, definitely a lot better. Obviously I can talk now, which is a nice thing. And, yeah, I just -- my little one had something on Thursday and Friday -- Wednesday and Thursday, and then I got it sort of Friday night and Saturday.

And, you know, playing in the heat probably didn't help last week. I felt pretty tired, and was a long travel day Monday as well. So I was taking a couple days, but I felt today is the best I felt for a little while. And nice to put a score together on top of that.

Q. And traveling back from Munich, it was very different conditions, wasn't it. It was pretty much a heat wave. How have you had to adapt this week, this setup?

RYAN FOX: The ball is definitely not going as far as this week. I think we were playing 5 percent last week, especially on Sunday. Sunday I felt like the hottest day in Munich, and it was -- the ball was really going. And this week it feels like it's gone about 10 percent shorter than it was on Sunday.

But two great golf courses. I really like this one, even though it kicked my ass last year. And I feel like if you hit some good shots, you can score; and if you hit bad shots, you get penalized. And I think that's the sign of a good golf course.

I'm always excited to come back here, and glad I put a good score together today.

Q. Can you put your finger on what you find that's out there?

RYAN FOX: It's just one of those silly little golf feelings, what feels right and, you know, saw a couple shots. So it was stop and finish where I wanted the ball to go. And I always feel like in golf you're probably two swings away from playing really well and two swings away from playing really badly. So I think we're out in the two swings away from playing really well today.

Q. What in particular was working well for you today?

RYAN FOX: To be honest, everything was. Short game kept me in it early and a couple good up-and-downs. My wedge play was really good. I think I hit it stiff on 7, 8, that tee on 7, 8, 1, and 2, and then kind of the birdies there with a wedge, and on top of that holed a couple of nice putts.

So it's just one of those days where everything went really well and I managed to keep it in the fairway for the most part, which around this golf course, if you're in the rough, that's pretty tough out there, which I found sort of through the first six holes.

Q. Playing behind the marquee group must be quite difficult. How do you keep your composure?

RYAN FOX: To be honest, I don't really notice. Just go and play. It's nice seeing all the people here. Obviously the Irish crowds are known for being big golf fans. And it was great to see so many people out this morning and hearing the cheers early. And a few of them stayed behind for our group when we got a couple of putts to go nice, a couple cheers out there as well.

So I imagine tomorrow afternoon is going to be even crazier, and look forward to seeing what it's like.

Q. You were in the playoff in the 2019. What is it about Ireland that just suits your game?

RYAN FOX: Just feels a little bit like home, to be honest. The people are great. The golf course is great.

Q. You must be playing with -- you know, your confidence must be really high at the moment. Tell us how high that is. You've got a win, you've got a couple of runner-ups, top 10s.

RYAN FOX: I'd say it's more freedom than confidence. It's just I feel really happy with where I am on the golf course and off the golf course, and that's a nice place to be, just go out and try to hit a good shot. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen.

And there's definitely some confidence there. I feel really comfortable here, where my game's at, which is -- probably hasn't happened for a few years out here now. And it's obviously a recipe for success. I've gotten close a few times the last few weeks. It'd certainly be nice to get another one over the line.

But it's pretty hard to win out here, and being in contention every week is pretty taxing as well. So I'm excited to do it, and hopefully I've got another chance this week.

Q. Do you think there's something in the stars for you here in Ireland maybe?

RYAN FOX: Yeah, I mean, yeah, I -- maybe just for me not to get in this playoffs, if I can stay away from them. I seem to have a record of people holing 40-footers on me in playoffs. So my boys got comfortable here, so maybe that's why I play well in Ireland. I don't know. But hopefully it continues for the rest of the week.

Q. It's two days away, but it could be a super Saturday, followed by you in the final group here?

RYAN FOX: That would be really nice. Our bet with Shane on who's going to win -- although sounds like my team might be playing with that team at this point. The first test of the year is always a big one, generally we're a little bit rusty, but also I feel a little bit of excitement. And I know my team finally played well this year. It would be nice for them to get over that final hurdle. But hopefully there's a few of those boys on the team and looking forward to watching and following over the next few weeks.

Q. Joe Schmidt was in this season, and he's taking your dad's place, right?

RYAN FOX: Yeah, I think he was first to take it after the series. But we've lost enough people that he's had to be called out. So I'm not really sure what the roles are or whatever for this week. I think it's just all hands on deck and trying to get this week out of the way, and hopefully everyone is going to recover for next week.