The Auckland professional golfer Ryan Fox has won the West Australia Open Championship by an emphatic six shots.
Starting the day tied for the lead, Fox made his intentions known early with a birdie on the first before going on to shoot a five under par 67 for a tournament total of 23 under 265.
The New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 27-year-old was never going to let this one slip through his fingers and was rock solid throughout the day.
Fox says it was great to get off to a good start, get a decent lead and be able to enjoy the last few holes.
He says he was pretty relaxed going in, he tried to stay that way, when you're hitting good shots it's pretty easy to do that.
Touted as a rising star of New Zealand golf and the son of All Black Legend Grant, Fox has had high expectations on his shoulders.
He was thrilled to have broken through for his maiden victory on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Fox says it's great to win his first Tour event, he's been in this position a couple of times but hadn't quite got it done so it's nice to turn all that practice into a winning result.
Fox says he was buoyed by the All Blacks come-from-behind victory over the Wallabies in Brisbane.
He says he definitely drew some inspiration out of that, as the Australians probably should have won but that New Zealand team just know how to win and they got the job done.
A birdie on the 18th sealed a runner-up finish for West Australian professional Stephen Dartnall who finished with a tournament total of 17 under 271.
Waikato professional Mathew Perry, like Fox, secured his best finish on the PGA Tour of Australasia with a share of sixth place.
New Zealand's Ryan Fox in action. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 2014 Muriwai Open Champion made $18,200, earned official world golf rankings points, and moved to fifth on the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit. The winner of the OOM earns a place in The Open Championship in 2015 at St Andrews.
The two-time winner of the Fiji Open now has full playing rights on the PGA Tour of Australasia for the rest of 2014 and for the next two years.
