Welcome to Teachable Moments, GOLF’s new weekly instruction column that will help you improve your game through the excellence and expertise of the Tour stars of the week. Class is now in session.
Ryan Fox‘s bid for his first-ever PGA Tour victory looked to be hanging on by a thread.
On the first playoff hole at last week’s Myrtle Beach Classic, Fox pushed his approach shot just right of the green at the par-4 finisher. Meanwhile, his two opponents — Mackenzie Hughes and Harry Higgs — knocked their shots within birdie range on the green.
Then, the unthinkable happened: Fox chipped in while Hughes and Higgs missed their birdie tries. Just like that, the Kiwi became the Tour’s newest winner while also punching his ticket to the PGA Championship this week.
“Obviously I knew the two guys had pretty good birdie chances; I just wanted to give the chip a run at it,” Fox said. “To be honest, it never looked like it was going anywhere else [but in the hole], and the rest of it is a bit of a blur from there.”
You gotta love the grind. A missed fairway and green, yet a circle on the scorecard.
Fox succeeded with a textbook a bump-and-run. With the ball on a downslope, right against the cut of the rough and fringe — and the hole on the opposite side of the green — Fox played the most high-percentage shot.
Below, I’ve outlined a few things I noticed from the epic walk-off birdie, and what you can learn from it.
