Golf: Ryan Fox takes lead in Belgium with stellar third round

  • 15/05/2022
Ryan Fox.
Ryan Fox. Photo credit: Getty Images

Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox is on track to claim his second DP World Tour title of the season, after a stellar third round to take the lead at the Soudal Open at Antwerp, Belgium.

Fox carded a five-under par 66 on Sunday (NZ time) to reach 11-under par overall, a shot ahead of England’s Sam Horsfield.

In superb conditions in the Belgian capital, Fox was steady through his front nine before catching fire with five birdies through the back nine to overtake Horsfield atop the leaderboard.

"I played really solid on the back nine, didn't miss a shot, holed a couple of putts as well," Fox said after his round.

"I hope I've figured something out after a couple of scrappy drives early in the round and felt pretty good from the 10th hole on so hopefully I can take that into tomorrow.

"On this course, regardless of how you're playing you feel like you've got lots of chances, you can always manage to get a couple of irons in the fairways and still give yourself some wedges and the greens are rolling lovely and you can hole some putts."

Fox began his day tied for six on six-under after the first two rounds, two shots behind the leaders, before his back-nine surge powered him into pole position.

The 35-year-old Aucklander has been in strong form in 2022, which began with a win at the Ras Al Khaimah Classic in the United Arab Emirates in February.

His efforts in Antwerp bode well for this week's PGA Championship at Oklahoma City, where he'll make his first appearance since 2019.

He finished eighth at the British Masters last week, after a ninth placing at the Catalunya Championships and 15th at the ISPS Handa Championship the fortnight prior.

"I've been in contention the last couple of weeks as well and not really done much on Sunday so I'm looking forward to being in the mix again."