Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox has clinched the biggest title of his career with victory at the European PGA Tour's Ras Al Khaimah Classic in Abu Dhabi on Monday (NZ time).
Beginning the day with a six-shot lead, Fox rounded out three days of dominance atop the leaderboard to close five shots clear of his nearest rival at the Al Hamra Golf Club.
Ranked world no. 211, it's Fox's first win on the 72-hole format European Tour. His only other win came in 2019 at a Super 6 tournament, which featured a strokeplay six-hole knockout format over 54 holes.
"Probably relief is the main emotion, because it was a bit of a struggle today," Fox said after his win.
The 35-year-old made a nervous start to his final round, bogeying two of his opening six holes to allow nearest rival Ross Fisher to close the gap on him to just two shots.
But he regathered himself and came home strong, shooting four-under through the final 11 holes and finishing with a score of three-under 69 for an overall total of 22-under.
"My stomach's stopped feeling weird now," Fox said, as he walked the fairway on the 18th.
"It's been a nervy day I can tell you that - but it's quite nice to have a long walk up 18 with the putter in my hand.
"Sleeping on a six-shot lead, I did not sleep very well last night and a couple of guys came at me early, so I was a bit nervous.
"It was going south pretty quickly and I'm pretty happy I could turn it around and show quite a bit of mental fortitude.
"I had that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach all day but I'm very happy with how I played, a couple of great shots coming down the stretch."
Fox's victory is a milestone achievement and comfortably the most prestigious title of his 13 tournament wins.
It's made all the more impressive given he missed the cut on the same course just last week, after being plagued by a back injury.
"I'm very happy with how I played," Fox added. "A couple of great shots coming down the stretch and it was certainly nice walking down the last with putter in hand with so many putts to win."
England's Fisher finished second on 17-under overall, with South African Zander Lombard, Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal and German Hurly Long sharing third on 16–under.
