ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

January 20, 2023

Ryan Fox

Yas Links

Quick Quotes

Q. 2-over par for your first seven holes of this championship, 9-under for the last 29. Was it just a little bit of rust, a little bit of getting back into the rhythm of competitive play? What was the difference?

RYAN FOX: Yeah, I think it was a bit of rust. I played a fair bit of golf in the lead up to this, but there's something about tournament golf that's a little different. I think I was actually doing pretty well to be doing 2-over through seven, the couple of shots I hit.

Made a couple of old world pars yesterday, and I didn't think I would be talking to you after two rounds, being in contention. It was really nice out there today. Hit a couple of scruffy shots but definitely felt a lot better.

Yesterday, I feel like I probably shot 66, even though it was 71. I didn't play very well. It's nice to get a good low one out here this morning.

Q. Incredible season for you last year, obviously a couple of win, second in the DP World Tour rankings. Did it change your outlook coming into this season that you had that much confidence last season?

RYAN FOX: A little bit. Obviously I'm going to have some events in the States this year, so I probably don't have the expectations quite as high, especially what I had the latter part of last season.

I just feel like I'm a much better golfer than I was at the sort of start of last year and have got a fair bit more confidence in my game. I know that there's not as many weaknesses as there was a few years ago. Like yesterday, I hit it awful but I could rely on my short game and my putter, and I couldn't have done that in the past. It's nice to see everything turning in the right direction like that.

Hopefully I can have a similar sort of year this year as I had last year, and I think it will be pretty hard to replicate that.