New Zealand’s Ryan Fox insisted he was surprised to find himself setting the pace in the Horizon Irish Open, despite his brilliant form this season.
Fox fired eight birdies, including seven in his last 11 holes, to card a flawless opening 64 at Mount Juliet and enjoy a one-shot lead over Frederic Lacroix, Jorge Campillo, Fabrizio Zanotti and Marcel Schneider.
England’s Aaron Rai, Dale Whitnell and Jordan Smith were part of a six-strong group on six under, with Scotland’s David Law and Ewen Ferguson another stroke back.
Red-hot @ryanfoxgolfer ✍️ He leads the way at @mountjuliet.#HorizonIrishOpen — DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 30, 2022 Fox, who lost a play-off for the 2018 Irish Open to Scotland’s Russell Knox, won the Ras Al Khaimah Classic in February, finished runner-up in the Soudal Open and Dutch Open and was third in the BMW International on Sunday. “I’m more surprised, to be honest, than anything else,” the world number 56 said. “I’ve been fighting it on the range the last couple of days and a 64 certainly didn’t look likely early in the round. “I made a couple of birdies but I was scrapping away and hit a great wedge on my eighth hole (the 17th) and made a few putts as well.