Beachlands’ Ryan Fox has recorded his best finish on the European Tour with a third-equal placing at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia.
Fox’s final round 66 at the Saujana Golf and Country Club was highlighted by an eagle at his opening hole and three birdies in his last four holes and saw him finish three shots
behind the winner Shubhankar Sharma of India, iseekgolf.com reported.
Fox told the Times he was very happy with the week.
“It’s nice to be in contention on Sunday and finish with my best result so far on the European tour,” he said.
On Saturday, Fox moved into a tie for the lead after sinking a 213-yard six-iron for a two on the par-five .
“The albatross was pretty special. They are much rarer than holes in one so very cool to have one in a tournament.”
Fox’s previous best finish in Europe was a fourth placing at both the Scottish and Irish Opens last year. He earned €135,434 ($231,489) for his week’s work and while his cheques in Scotland, Ireland and France last year were bigger, this is a great start to the 2018 year for him, iseekgolf.com said.
Fox began the final round three shots behind the then leading pair of Dylan Frittelli and Jorge Campillo and although he gave back one of those two shots, he gained at the first when bogeying the second. The balance of his round saw him move through the field into what is a particularly satisfying week for the 31-year-old who is in his second season on the European Tour.
Sharma won his second European Tour title just a few weeks after his first at the Joburg Open two months ago and last year finished 9th in this event so he did have the credentials coming into the week but at # 193 in the world he was hardly considered one of the favourites for the event.
Nothing was going to stop the 21-year-old today however as he powered his way to a bogey-free round of 62 to come from four shots off the pace for his stunning victory.
Spain’s Campillo finished alone in second place while his fellow countryman Pablo Larraza finished in a share of third place with Fox, he too finishing with a rush over the closing few holes for a round of 66.
The European Tour now joins forces with the Asian and Australasian Tours for the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth.
