New Zealand’s Ryan Fox won the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth after a convincing 3&2 victory over Spain’s Adrian Otaegui in Australia.
The 32-year-old from Auckland, who lives in London, finished eight under par after 54 holes of stroke play part of the mixed format event held at Lake Karrinyup Country Club, sealing a place inside the top eight and earning a bye into the second round of the six-hole knockout stage on Sunday.
Fox, still had to come through 25 holes in the final round to get his hands on the trophy, going to the shootout hole three times to beat Thai Jazz Janewattananond before claiming 1up triumphs over Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan and Ireland’s Paul Dunne.
Fox then jumped into a 3up lead against Otaegui in the final and victory was his when the fourth hole was halved in pars.
Fox’s victory in his 79th European Tour event makes him the first winner from New Zealand since Danny Lee won the 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic as an amateur.
In the battle for third, Dunne was 2up after two holes against Scott Vincent, before the Zimbabwean won the fifth and sixth to take the match to the shootout hole. Vincent then put his tee-shot into the grandstand for a bogey, with Dunne hitting the pin and sealing third place.
“I felt really in control of things out there, said Fox, who is the son of All Blacks legend Grant Fox. “It was nice to hole a couple of putts that mattered and I guess that makes it feel easy in the end. I always enjoyed match play as an amateur. I had a pretty decent record playing for Auckland in the Inter-provincial, and I grew up playing team sports, so you just get used to trying to beat someone and I quite like that. It’s different than trying to beat the golf course.”
He added: “I think the event has been a success here the last few years – the crowds are fantastic, and I’m sure that the concept will work in other places in the world.”