Few golfers, especially those of the professional ranks, can claim they've had as good of a two-hole stretch as Ryan Fox did during the first round of the Players Championship. Fox bogeyed 14 and 15 and lost momentum heading into the next three holes of his opening round. What followed was nothing short of spectacular.
Fox recorded an eagle on the par-5 16th then managed to bury his tee shot on 17 for a hole-in-one, an incredible two-hole feat that you just don’t see every day. The back-to-back eagles are the first in Players Championship history. The hole-in-one on 17 marks the third consecutive year TPC Sawgrass saw such a shot at the Players Championship. It's also the eighth hole-in-one since 2016.
Fox closed out the back nine of the course (which was the front nine of his round) with a bogey but the consecutive eagles on 16 and 17 had to feel good. The New Zealander is 3-under through 14 holes in his opening round.
The Players Championship is a big tournament for a lot of golfers and a big deal to the fans. Some describe it as the fifth major on the PGA Tour calendar and it certainly attracts that kind of attention.
Stories like that of Ryan Fox who gets his 15 minutes of fame are what make tournaments like this special. A player like Fox is capable of winning a tournament like the Players Championship but it doesn’t happen often. Though he has more than a few professional wins in his career, Fox has never won a PGA Tour event.
The Players Championship has plenty to offer in terms of viewership. It is four days of great golf and there are usually multiple storylines to follow throughout the weekend. Ryan Fox added one such storyline on Thursday.
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