It’s an opportunity that has felt a long time coming for the Kiwi.
In 2022, Fox, who was yet to earn his PGA Tour card, was overlooked as a captain’s selection – with four players ranked lower than him in the standings getting the call instead.
“I felt like I was still probably on the outside looking in, not being a PGA Tour member, not playing much over here, but I still felt like I had a shot. I was pretty comfortable being inside the top 12, I think, on the list. That probably affected how I played that week big time,” Fox said of being told he had missed selection in 2022.
“I knew in ’24 I’d given myself a good start to the campaign, but my PGA Tour season in ’24 was pretty slow. I knew I wasn’t getting the pick from [captain] Mike [Weir] pretty early on. I hadn’t played well enough and definitely didn’t deserve it. But I’m glad I’m on the other side of it this year.”
Selection this time caps off a campaign to remember for Fox, who had made it clear from the start of the season that playing in the Presidents Cup was his main goal this year.
Following on from his win at The Open in July, the Kiwi earned his maiden appearance in the PGA Tour Championship – limited to just the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings – at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Fox finished the tournament 26th, falling out of contention over his final two rounds, to earn a US$375,000 ($634,000) purse.
“I felt like I gave myself a pretty good chance the last couple,” he said of what was then an expected selection after the first round of the Atlanta tournament last week.
“I might have been a little hard done by four years ago, but yeah, I’m very excited to be a part of it this year. We’ve got a great group of guys involved, captains and players.
“All the extended group outings we’ve had and dinners and stuff like that, we all get along really, really well. I’m excited to be part of the team, and hopefully we can do something special this year.”
Automatic qualifiers for 2026 Presidents Cup teams
International
Si Woo Kim (South Korea)Hideki Matsuyama (Japan)Ryan Fox (New Zealand)Tom Kim (South Korea)Min Woo Lee (Australia)Adam Scott (Australia)
United States
Scottie Scheffler Cameron YoungWyndham ClarkSam BurnsRussell HenleyCollin Morikawa
Each team to add another six players as captain’s selections.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.