After two months away from tournament golf, a refreshed Ryan Fox made a strong return to set the early clubhouse target at the BMW Australian PGA Championship before play was suspended due to lightning.
The New Zealander, playing alongside Adam Scott and Elvis Smylie, began his round from the tenth and quickly found rhythm, carding two birdies in his opening nine holes for a front‑nine 33.
Despite a dropped shot at the second, Fox responded with back‑to‑back birdies at the fourth and fifth, before parring his way home to post a four-under-par 68.
“I haven’t played tournament golf in two months, so the legs are a little tired,” Fox said.
“It was good. I actually played really nice today, to be honest… all in all really happy.”
Fox’s return comes after a deliberate break from competition, having not teed up anywhere since the FedEx Open de France in September.
While he was forced to take time off last year with a hip injury, this break was by choice, following an incredibly successful season.
Having taken up dual membership on the PGA TOUR last year, Fox had something of a breakthrough year in America in 2025, capturing his first two PGA TOUR titles through play-offs in the space of four starts earlier this year and finishing tied 19th in the U.S. Open.
Now, Fox is searching for his first DP World Tour victory since he claimed the 2023 BMW PGA Championship, but said that his expectations coming into this week weren't particularly high.
“It’s two months off and it was by choice this time, which is nice,” he explained.
"I wouldn’t say my expectations were overly high. I’ve been playing nicely at home in the lead up, but sometimes that doesn’t necessarily translate very well into tournament golf and actually did that today. So it was kind of go out there and give it a crack and see what happens. And if I can do that for the rest of the week and play like I have, hopefully I might be near the pointy end on Sunday.
"I had [taken time off] last year, but it was sort of injury-enforced trying to deal with the labrum tear in the hips. So yeah, this was kind of nice to just go back home and chill out for a month. I’ve been pretty busy the last month with golf stuff and various other things at home, but to come and actually and be refreshed going into some tournaments is nice.
“I’m here to try to win a golf tournament rather than playing for a card or anything like that. It’s a nice place to be."
Fox pointed to his second shot into the tenth as a key moment in settling back into tournament play.
“I hit 8‑iron exactly where I wanted to, 15 feet away," he said. "Really the right flight, the right shape and everything. I was like, oh. It just felt really nice and set a good standard for the rest of the day.”
With home favourites Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott both signing for three‑under rounds, Fox’s effort ensured he held an early advantage on some of the biggest stars as the weather brought play to a halt.
And although currently three behind leader Sebastian Garcia and one behind Daniel Gale, Fox sits in a strong position while both players still have several holes of their opening rounds still to complete ahead of the second round.
Also in the clubhouse at four-under are Tapio Pulkkannen, Wenyi Ding and Anthony Quale. Fellow Australian Nathan Barbieri is on the same total through eight holes, while Sebastian Munoz has played 14 holes. They will resume their opening rounds at 6am AEST on Friday, with second round tee times pushed back by 90 minutes, starting at 7.30am AEST.
