Until that point, Fox had made a solid start in hot conditions at TPC Southwind, going into the turn one-under-par with a couple of birdies, one bogey and some good par saves.
After the two-hole stretch early in his back nine, however, he found himself sitting three-over and plummeting down the leaderboard. He fell to four-over after three-putting on the par-three 14th, before getting that shot back on the par-five 16th to finish three-over.
Fox sat in an eight-way tie for 60th, ahead of only two other players in the field – Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy (four-over) and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre (12-over).
At the other end of the leaderboard, there was a five-way tie for the lead at five-under-par, with Americans Michael Thorbjornsen, Michael Kim, Kurt Kitayama, Jake Knapp and Jordan Spieth – the only player in the field without a top-10 finish this season – setting the benchmark.
For Fox, it could be a case of damage control for his second round of the no-cut tournament as he looks to shore up his position in the top 30.
Entering the St Jude Championship ranked 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings, finishing towards the bottom of the pack in this week’s tournament could see him exit the top 30.
While that won’t impact his place in next week’s BMW Championship – when the field is cut from the top 70 to the top 50 – it would leave him needing a result to ensure he qualified for the Tour Championship, contested the following week with just the top 30 invited.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.