New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox has confirmed his participation in the upcoming BMW Australian PGA Championship, scheduled to take place at Royal Queensland Golf Club from November 27-30. Fox, currently ranked world No.34, will be joined by the top three New Zealand players on the Official World Golf Ranking. The tournament has not seen a New Zealander win since Greg Turner’s victory in 1999 at Victoria Golf Club.
Fox returns to Royal Queensland for the first time since 2022, recalling his previous appearance there as a semi-finalist in the Australian Amateur ten years ago. After two wins on the PGA TOUR this season and commitments in the United States that may affect his ability to play at next year’s New Zealand Open, Fox is looking forward to strong support from Kiwi fans during the event.
“There always seems to be a bunch of random Kiwis at events,” said Fox, who broke through on the PGA TOUR at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic in May.
“You can hear the New Zealand accent from a mile away and at The Open at Portrush this year, it was unbelievable how many Kiwis were over there for that.
“I feel the love every week. I know there’s a pretty strong Kiwi contingent up in Queensland and hopefully there’s a few Kiwis fly over to watch the PGA as well.
“It’ll feel a little bit like playing at home maybe, just with some slightly better weather than we get the end of November.”
With his playing status now established in the US, Fox plans an extended break back home after completing this season’s FedEx Cup Playoffs. This should allow him to arrive refreshed for November’s championship and start accumulating points early in the DP World Tour season—a contrast to his last appearance when he played immediately after arriving from Dubai.
“I’ve always wanted to play the events at the end of the year. It just hasn’t worked that well the last couple of years,” said Fox, who won the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit in 2019.
“I did it in ‘22 after a really big year and was absolutely cooked and struggled early ’23, not having enough of a break.
“Obviously Brisbane’s a great city, Royal Queensland’s a great golf course and I’m looking forward to coming back and giving it a crack at the end of the year.”
The field will also include Adam Scott and defending champion Elvis Smylie. Despite potentially being one of its highest-ranked entrants, Fox notes recent achievements by fellow New Zealand golfers on tour such as Kazuma Kobori (2023-2024 Order of Merit winner), Tyler Hodge (NZ PGA), Josh Geary (Vic Open), Nick Voke (Webex Players Series Sydney), and Kerry Mountcastle (Gippsland Super 6).
“We’ve obviously got a lot of really good players at the moment,” said Fox.
“It was great to see Josh Geary get a win earlier this year, Kazuma’s obviously playing great and played great on the DP World Tour this year.
“Dan Hillier is another one, Mike Hendry is still carrying the flag nicely, Kerry’s turned himself into a great young player so we’ve got a lot of chances.
“It’s been 26 years (since Turner’s win) so hopefully we can change that this year. I’ll certainly be giving it my best crack and I’m sure all the other Kiwis in the field will be doing the same.”
The BMW Australian PGA Championship receives backing from both Tourism and Events Queensland—an initiative supported by the Queensland Government—and Brisbane Economic Development Agency, part of Brisbane City Council.
