High-flying Fox

If 2025 was golden for Kiwi golf star Ryan Fox, 2026 promises to be platinum.

Fresh from standout performances at the Australian Open and two PGA Tour victories at the Myrtle Beach Classic and the Canadian Open, Ryan has returned to New Zealand to savour summer with family and friends.

“Last year was a dream come true, basically,” he reflects. “The first win at Myrtle Beach was amazing to be able to tick off a goal and dream that I’d wanted since I was 18. To do it again a few weeks later in Canada in a full-field event – and in such an iconic event – meant even more, and that the first one wasn’t just a fluke.”

Winning, of course, runs in the family. His father, All Black great Grant Fox, enjoyed an enduring rugby career and was part of the 1987 inaugural Rugby World Cup-winning team. That legacy shaped Ryan’s own professional sporting journey as the World Number 41, especially in terms of resilience and psychological strength.

Grant always said: “Work hard to be the best you can be, and you can always be proud of the outcome – whether you succeed or not.” It's a mantra that Ryan has adopted throughout his golfing career, which takes him all over the world with his wife Anneke and their daughters Isabel, five, and Margot, two, in tow.

“My family travels a lot with me and it’s great to have them out there,” he says. “It puts everything in perspective and it’s a good way to forget about golf when I leave the course. Being Dad and getting to do stuff with the kids in the evenings makes up for the tough travel, and having them with me makes time management a priority. I think it helps me to be more focused on golf so I can then go and spend time with them.”

Although the Fox family splits the year between Auckland and Jupiter, Florida, it’s Ryan’s birthplace that still feels like home.

“Auckland will always be home for us, and we miss it while we are away,” he says.

“We were based in London for eight years while I played in Europe and did summers there and summers back in NZ, which was great. We’ve also really enjoyed Ireland and Scotland: the people are awesome, most of them love rugby and I always felt like the landscapes mirror rural NZ.”

Ryan’s home course, the Royal Auckland & Grange Golf Club, recently hosted the fourth annual Chasing the Fox golf entertainment event, bringing together professional golfers and celebrities in support of their chosen charities. The concept was born when event promoter Nick Randell approached Ryan a few years ago with the idea of creating a golf-music-lifestyle showcase – one designed to be as exciting for spectators as it is for the players themselves.

“There are so many people from different walks of life that love golf and we wanted to have a format where it was fast and exciting and shows that golf is accessible and fun for everyone,” he says.

“It’s grown some legs the last few years with TV being involved and some great sponsors. I’m not sure Nick or I thought it would get as big as it has so quickly, but he’s done a fantastic job putting all the moving parts together and we’ve had some great feedback from the players and people watching so hopefully we can keep the momentum. It’s also very humbling from my point of view to have so many iconic New Zealanders wanting to play an event with my name on it.”

Chasing the Fox will be back in December 2026 but, in the meantime, Ryan has a few goals to tick off the wish list, including building NZ's golf brand. NZ is highly regarded on the green globally, he says, particularly with the international success of Lydia Ko, as well as many other talented Kiwi golfers making their mark.

“We have Dan Hillier and Kazuma Kobori flying the flag for us in Europe, Ben Campbell on the Asian and LIV tours, Mike Hendry in Japan. We have lots more players plying their trade on various tours around the world and succeeding,” he says.

“As for me, 2026 is going to be a big year hopefully. I’m in all the big events on the PGA Tour and in three of the four majors already. I’ve got some big goals for 2026, but the biggest one would be to make the Presidents Cup team in September.”