BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

September 16, 2026

Ryan Fox

Wentworth Golf Club

Press Conference

CLARE BODEL: Welcome Ryan back to the BMW PGA Championship. It's been quite a year for you, and here you are back here at a tournament that you also won in the past.

So just sort of wondering if you feel different coming into the he this event veer for it feels familiar.

RYAN FOX: Yeah, obviously it feels like everything's changed at the minute. I'm still getting used to that. Everything is busier. I feel like time management is hard. It's the stuff you kind of expect after doing something like that, and yeah, still a process of getting used to it but it's nice to be back here and I do have great memories around here.

I'm looking forward to the week and kind of treat the golf course a little bit like a sanctuary that I can still control what's going on for the most part out there, and kind of go with the flow.

CLARE BODEL: You've been out there for the Pro-Am and did pretty well. How is it looking out there?

RYAN FOX: Yeah, we had a good day today. I mean, it heaps, I played with Roger Steele, who plays off the forward tees as an amateur and hitting it 340 in the air. That makes this golf course a lot easier like that. We had fun. Had enough good shots to come back tomorrow as well, so that's always good.

Flowed nicely. The golf course is in good shape considering, I heard it's been a drought here and it's a lot greener and softer than I expected it to be. So I'm looking forward to the challenge it's going to pose to us this week.

Q. (On what did you learn from your father about handling success and public attention.)

RYAN FOX: Not necessarily specifically. Obviously I grew up with it, so I saw how he handled himself. I thought he did a really good job of giving people his time and I tried to copy that as much as possible. I haven't spent much time back in New Zealand.

Kiwis are a bit different in that regard. We don't have as much of a celebrity culture like in America, that they do. Used to getting stopped going down the street and handled it pretty well and hopefully I can do the same as well.

Q. How close is it to the World Cup?

RYAN FOX: The World Cup's pretty big in our country. It's kind of like cricket over here. Even if you don't play cricket, you watch cricket. You know how the England team are doing. For us, everyone in New Zealand feels almost pain when we lose and celebrate with them when they win. World Cup is a pretty big achievement for us. But I think it's at least close.

Q. Shane was in just now talking about how and he have a friendship and that there is a particular bond between Irish and Kiwis. Can you explain that, and talk about what feels like being one of the most popular players on The European Tour?

RYAN FOX: I always try to be myself in that regard and always felt like I get along with everyone easily. I have a lot of good friends out here and it's been pretty incredible. Coming back here, the reception has been incredible. I've obviously done something right over the years to have that reception -- and it's not just from players, it's staff and caddies and everything else. From that regard, I've obviously handled myself fairly well over the last few years, and hopefully it doesn't come off as contrived. I'm just trying to be me. It's been great to have that reception over here.

In terms of the Irish and Kiwi stuff, I feel like we've got a lot in common. We both don't have great weather. We enjoy having a bit of fun. I think we enjoy -- there are some similar sports as well. Shane and I have a big passion for rugby. I would say a lot of our conversation is around that, and I feel like there's always a mutual respect there, as well.

I think a lot of it comes down to rugby union between our nations. I think there's always been a great respect both ways. Yeah, I've always enjoyed hanging out with the Irishmen. One of my best mates at home is Irish. He's been a mate for 30 years. Yeah, it's just, I think, pretty similar cultures. Pretty similar outlook on life and I think that's why we get along so well.

Q. What do you like about Aaron Rai, and why is he so popular?

RYAN FOX: I think Aaron is genuinely one of the most pleasant and nicest people you'll ever meet. First time I played with Aaron was an open qualifying at Woburn in I want to say like 2015 maybe.

Yeah, feels like he hasn't changed at all to this day, even though he's accomplished a lot. He always gives everyone his time. I love the fact that he's just himself. He doesn't worry about anything else. He's got his sort of quirks and some other people would have maybe changed a little bit over the years. But he's always kept his manners.

I think the other thing I would say about him is I think he's one of the hardest workers anywhere, I would argue in any sport but definitely in golf. Everyone was very happy for him at The PGA Championship, and you see how hard he works. You see he deserves it, and the way he did it was impressive. He's cared himself so well since that achievement, and he's the same person he was before the PGA Championship. It's a testament to him and his family, the way he was brought up.

He's genuinely one of the nicest, most pleasant people you'll ever meet and he's got time for everyone.

Q. It's cool to see you take the jug home so soon after The Open. Why was it important for you to get back so soon?

RYAN FOX: To be honest when I got back to Florida on the Monday after The Open, I hadn't really even thought about it. I was just keen to get back and see the family.

And then my manager and my wife both were like, mate, you've got three weeks off now, maybe we should go back. As soon as that kind of popped into my head, I was like, we have to do it, while it's fresh.

Like I remember vividly what it was like when Michael Campbell won the U.S. Open in 2005 and how big it was for New Zealand. I was just starting my golf journey at that time, as well. Just started playing tournaments and stuff.

So yeah, I felt like it was just the right thing to do. Originally we weren't planning ongoing back till the end of November. And yeah, it just wouldn't have felt the same.

I also think a little bit selfishly, it was a chance to do all the stuff that I needed to do media-wise and celebration-wise, and it would give me a little bit more of a holiday at the end of the year. If I had pushed it down to December, I think it just would have been chaotic and I probably wouldn't have enjoyed going home.

So to be able to go home and celebrate with friends and family and do all the other stuff that comes with it, you know, early on, it was really nice while it was fresh. But it was good to be able to put in a block and then hopefully when I go back at the end of the year as well, hopefully I can still enjoy being home and doing all that stuff but it's not condensed into a six-week period.

Q. What's the coolest reaction someone has had to you out message of congratulations?

RYAN FOX: I've had a lot of cool messages come through. Adam Scott sent me a great one but I'm not going to repeat it.

I heard a really good message from Justin Thomas about remembering all the little things because you never know when you are going to need it down the road. I thought that was a great nugget of advice.

Got a message from Kelly Slater which is pretty cool. I met Kelly once eight or nine years ago at a Dunhill. For him to reach out like that was cool. I had a lot of people do the same.

What was the first part of the question?

I would say the one that I remember the most, we had a party at home, and we had about 50 of us and one of my best mates turns up a little bit late, and I handed him Claret Jug as he walked in the door, and it was full of red wine and he's just looking at me going, what the -- the whole time -- just completely in awe of it, and then he proceeded to drink the whole thing.

Q. You've been a supporter of European players going into the Ryder Cup over years. How nice is it to have support going into the Presidents Cup?

RYAN FOX: Yeah, I think first of all, that was probably my first goal of the year was to make that team. I'm really excited about next week. I feel like we've got a pretty cool opportunity for next week. I feel like we've got a great team and with everything else that's going on on the team at the moment, we can add a nice little piece of history there.

I've spoken to a couple of the Ryder Cup guys, and they are right behind us for next week. So it's great to have that support come back other way. We'll certainly be giving it our best the next week to try to keep the trophy away from the Americans.

Q. (On Geoff Ogilvy as Presidents Cup captain.)

RYAN FOX: Without trying to be mean, you know, there's not many other people that have it, the iron covers and stuff like that, and I think it's a great testament to him that he's stuck to his guns and does it and hasn't been -- hasn't listened to any criticism on social media or anything like that. He's got his reasons for doing it, and it's great. Everyone is bought into it now and it's brilliant, but he could have easily been forgiven for conforming to the norm a little bit. It's great to see that he hasn't.

Q. Can you draw from the success of the Ryder Cup going into the Team Europe?

RYAN FOX: I think so. I would say on paper, the Americans are always strongest team, even in the Ryder Cup, if you look at the World Ranking. But that doesn't seem to make any difference in the Ryder Cup. I think we can learn a lot from that. Just not be intimidated by it, and you know, I feel like we know a lot of the European players really well from the Presidents Cup team, and if these guys can do it, we can do it, too.

I think we can definitely emulate them and take a little bit out of what they -- how they get together as a team. I think that's -- The European Team has done a really good job of that over probably the last decade, maybe even longer, just having as one collective goal, I feel like we're getting pretty close to that as an International Team. Certainly feels like that this year.

I think that's the way we win is have that collective goal, all buy into it, and yeah, it will be an exciting week for us next week.

Q. You said you talked to a couple Ryder Cuppers. Can you tell us who they are?

RYAN FOX: I talked to Shane on the putting green, and no doubt we'll be having a chat with Rory the next couple days. Yeah, they are all great guys to talk to. Like obviously they have had a lot of success as a team, as well.

Hopefully can pick Rory's brain about what they have done well as a team. But you feel like, I don't -- want to be nasty about it, about a collective anti-American Team, like we want to beat them. Like most of us live there. We like it over on the PGA TOUR, I'm not going to lie, but it's our one chance a year to go, okay, we want to stop the Americans because it's a fun thing to do. We haven't done it yet as a national team but I've always enjoyed watching Euro open do it.

Q. I assume you've had conversations with Geoff. Any idea how he might change things from previous captains?

RYAN FOX: I haven't been involved in previous ones, so I don't know how Geoff compares to Mike or Trevor or anyone beforehand.

I feel like Ernie started -- I was on the out, looking in, are early on involved with the team dinners, and Ernie started with the shield to get us to buy being part of the International Team. I think everyone's got better at that over the years, and Geoff -- that's really important for Geoff, for us to be together as a team.

My dealings with Geoff have been brilliant. I feel like he's very thoughtful. Yeah, he doesn't say anything -- there's no bullshit, really. The other great thing for us, as well, he's redone the golf course. I feel like we've got some good insight into how -- what he was trying to do with the setup of the golf course and how he played it and stuff like that, which I think can only be helpful.

But yeah, he's been brilliant. He spent a lot of time just trying to get us together as a team. I think that's been his big push this year is to want to get us to buy into that team thing. Yeah, as I said, I'm really looking forward to next week.

Q. One last thing. There's some discussion about the possibility traveling to the Middle East; do you have any concerns?

RYAN FOX: Obviously there are some concerns. I'm obviously of the opinion that the Tour is doing their due diligence. If they feel like it's safe for us to go, I'm willing to support that.

But I can understand, also, why guys have some reservations. I'll keep monitoring it. If I feel like it's not the right decision, I might not go but at this point I trust the Tour's decision in that regard.