Ryan Fox is golf’s newest major champion, but his route to the top of the game looked nothing like the traditional path. While most future major winners spend their childhoods on elite junior circuits, Fox split his time between cricket, rugby, tennis, and a law degree before golf ever became his focus.
A newly resurfaced interview with Golfshake, recorded four years before Fox lifted the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale, shows just how early his winning mindset took shape. Long before the world knew him as Champion Golfer of the Year, Fox had already worked out the one thing that would carry him there: focus on what you can control, and nothing else.
Looking back now, the interview reads less like an old conversation and more like a blueprint for exactly how he won.
An interview that sat unpublished for 4 years
Fox sat down with Golfshake in 2022, years before his Open Championship breakthrough, for a wide-ranging conversation about his background, his mindset, and his advice for everyday golfers. The interview was never published at the time.
Revisiting it now, after Fox’s dramatic win at Royal Birkdale, the themes feel almost prophetic. His approach to pressure, his philosophy on competing against the course rather than the field, and even his advice to amateurs all echo directly in how he closed out his first major.
It offers a rare, unfiltered look at a player before the world was watching closely, making it a genuinely revealing window into what actually built a champion.
Cricket, rugby, and a law degree came before golf
Golf was not Fox’s first love. He grew up playing cricket and rugby, the two sports that ran through both sides of his family, with his father, Grant Fox, an All Blacks legend, and his mother’s father, a former New Zealand cricketer.
“Cricket and rugby were my two main sports,” Fox told Golfshake. “I played a lot of tennis growing up and sort of golf. Golf was the one I enjoyed the most, but it’s been the least amount of time doing.”
After school, Fox enrolled in a law degree, not a golf academy. It was only once he felt something competitive was missing from his life that he picked up a set of clubs seriously, entered a few junior tournaments at his home club, and, in his words, “absolutely loved it.”
The philosophy his father gave him
Growing up as the son of a rugby icon could easily have put pressure on me. Fox says it never did, largely because of one piece of advice his father gave him early on.
“Dad said, ‘Be the best you can be’ to me quite early, regardless of what it was,” Fox recalled. “Regardless of if you succeeded or not, if you think you did your best, well, that’s great.”
That philosophy shows up directly in how Fox plays. Rather than measuring himself against the leaderboard or the players around him, he has built his entire game around controlling his own performance and letting the results follow.
Beating the course, not the field
Fox’s mental approach centers on a simple reframing: he is not trying to beat the other players in the field; he is trying to beat the golf course in front of him. It is a mindset, he says, that was shaped through conversations with his team.
“We talked about pushing the boat out and trying to beat the golf course, not trying to beat the guys that you’re playing against,” he said.
That mentality was on full display at Royal Birkdale, where Fox trusted his own game through the closing holes rather than reacting to what Cameron Young was doing elsewhere on the course. He has also become known for playing fast, taking just 11 seconds over the winning putt on the 72nd hole.
Fun fact: Ryan Fox comes from one of New Zealand’s most famous sporting families. His father, Grant Fox, was a legendary rugby player and member of the All Blacks.
The advice that works for weekend golfers, too
Fox is known for his power off the tee, but his advice to amateur golfers has nothing to do with swinging harder. Instead, he focuses on target selection and commitment to the shot at hand.
“Most amateurs just need to be more target-focused than anything else,” he said. “Try to pick a shot and hit a shot, and try to not worry too much about the outcome.”
He applies a similar logic to his own swing, prioritizing stability over raw speed. “If I’ve got the stability there, then it’s a bit easier to generate, it’s more controllable,” Fox explained. “I’ve never been one of those guys who’s really focused too hard on trying to gain extra speed.”
Fishing, guitar, and a daughter who does not care about his score
Despite reaching the top of professional golf, Fox has always kept interests well outside the game. Asked what he enjoys away from the course, he pointed to fishing, surfing, and playing guitar.
Becoming a father has added another layer of perspective. “My daughter doesn’t care whether I shoot 80 or 60, she’s still going to treat me exactly the same,” he said, a sentiment that has clearly stayed with him.
After his Open Championship win, Fox did not rush into another tournament. Instead, he returned home to New Zealand to celebrate with family, a decision that reflects the same grounded outlook he described years earlier.
A links golf lover who finally found his stage
Golfshake also asked Fox about his favorite courses back in 2022. His answer, in hindsight, feels almost like foreshadowing.
“In New Zealand, I’ll say Tara Iti,” he said, “and elsewhere, any of the links golf courses I love. Portrush, St Andrews.”
Four years later, another historic links course, Royal Birkdale, became the site of the biggest win of his career, adding his name to a list of champions on the very style of golf course he had always loved most.
Fun fact: The winner of The Open earns the title “Champion Golfer of the Year,” one of the most distinctive championship titles in all of sports.
Fun fact: The Claret Jug, awarded to The Open champion, has been presented since 1873 and is one of the most recognizable trophies in global sports.
TL;DR
- A previously unpublished 2022 Golfshake interview reveals the mindset behind Ryan Fox’s 2026 Open Championship win.
- Fox played cricket, rugby, and tennis, and started a law degree before committing to golf.
- His father, All Blacks legend Grant Fox, told him simply to “be the best you can be.”
- Fox’s mental approach centers on beating the golf course rather than the other players in the field.
- He took just 11 seconds over the winning putt on the 72nd hole at Royal Birkdale.
- His advice to amateurs: pick a target and commit to the shot, rather than swinging harder.
- Away from golf, Fox enjoys fishing, surfing, and playing guitar, and says fatherhood has kept him grounded.
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This article was made with AI assistance and human editing.
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