Zealander Ryan Fox has won the John Hughes Nexus Risk Services WA Open Championship by an emphatic six shots.
Starting the day tied for the lead, Ryan Fox made his intentions known early with a birdie on the first before going on to shot 5-under the card for a tournament total of 23-under 265.
The 27-year-old was never going to let this one slip through his fingers and was rock solid throughout the day.
“I am ecstatic and a bit relieved,” said Fox immediately after his victory.
“It was great to get off to a good start, get a decent lead and be able to enjoy the last few holes.”
“I was pretty relaxed going in. I tried to stay that way, when you’re hitting good shots it’s pretty easy to do that.”
Touted as a rising star of New Zealand golf and the son of All Black Legend Grant, Fox has had high expectations on his shoulders and is ecstatic to have broken through for his maiden victory on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
“It’s great to win my first Tour event; I have been in this position a couple of times but hadn’t quite got it done. It’s nice to turn all that practice into a winning result,” said Fox who was inspired by the All Blacks victory over the Wallabies last night.
“It was actually good to see the National team do so well and see what they did to win, I definitely drew some inspiration out of that.”
“The Aussies probably should have won but that New Zealand team just know how to win and they got the job done.”
Now with his own win to celebrate, Fox is excited for what lies ahead.
“I have a nice bottle of wine sitting at home so I think we might drink some of that tonight,” said Fox.
“I love coming to Perth, this is my fourth time, I have always played well over here so it’s nice to put a win on the board and hopefully I will be back next year.”
A birdie on the 18th sealed a runner-up finish for West Australian Stephen Dartnall who finished with a tournament total 17-under 271.
A shot further back tied third were Rhein Gibson (NSW), Paul Spargo (SA) and Daniel Nisbet (QLD).
Finishing the leading amateur on 13-under the card was Victorian Todd Sinnott. He finished the tournament tied 6th with Kim Felton (WA), Mathew Perry (NZ), Josh Younger (Vic), Daniel Fox (WA), Matt Jager (WA), Anthony Houston (Vic), Steve Jones (Vic).