Q. Off to a really nice start there on the front nine. You get it cranked up with the 3rd hole, which is one of the more difficult holes on the golf course and you start that string of four birdies in a row at the 3rd?
RYAN FOX: Yeah, I was really happy. That is a hard hole. I hit a good tee shot down there and hit 8-iron to the back flag. I flagged it, and it kind of just finished on the back fringe and made a nice one down there.
4 is not an easy hole. Hit a good shot in there, as well, made a good putt, and hit two good shots on 5 and 6 and made birdie.
It's been a struggle lately, so it was nice to get off to a good start rather than the other way like I was last week.
Q. Did you want to work on your bunker play at 17 and 18?
RYAN FOX: Not really. 17 was a little bit in between clubs and I kind of just didn't commit to it and I just hit a bad shot, so I'm glad I got that up-and-down. I felt like finishing bogey-bogey would have ruined -- 5-under still would have been good, but it would have ruined a really good day. Was happy to make that putt on the last, and 6-under feels pretty solid out there.
Q. We know a few years ago unfortunately you had to withdraw with an illness. How did you feel going around for your first official 18 holes of this Signature Event on the PGA TOUR?
RYAN FOX: I felt a lot better than I did last time here. I had pneumonia last time. My memory of the place was -- it felt claustrophobic. I felt awful. I was missing -- almost missing the club face on par-3s with like 8-irons and stuff. It was horrible.
I was a bit worried about coming back because that was my memory of the place, and I remember it being so narrow and kind of intimidating, then come back this week and go, actually, it's still narrow and stuff like that, but I feel a whole lot better about what the golf game was and myself as well.
It was, oh, okay, you can still hit shots around here; it's not quite as intimidating as I remember. So it's nice to be back with some good memories of this place. The family is really loving it off the golf course. It's a great part of the world for them to come to, and looking forward to the rest of the week now.
Q. You won not too far from here for your first victory on the PGA TOUR. How has life changed for you in the last couple years since that happened?
RYAN FOX: Quite a lot. Just having some guaranteed status out here for a few years, that's the biggest thing. You don't get that in golf a lot.
It probably made life off the golf course a little bit easier. We were, are we going to be living in the States long-term, going back to New Zealand, going back to Europe, not really certain of any of that.
Winning last year gave us some certainty, could make some decisions around what we're going to do with the family. My oldest is about to start school, and she's going to start school over here this year. I'm not sure we could have made that decision without having some guaranteed status.
The other thing, I ticked off a dream. You don't get to say that very often, I don't think, in a career, and I wanted to win on the PGA TOUR. I felt like my game was good enough to do it if it turned up for the week, and yeah, that was -- it kind of changed everything. It made me feel more comfortable out here and everything, as well. It was a big week for me.
Q. What was the highlight out there today for you? A lot of birdies in that round.
RYAN FOX: Yeah, probably the highlight, I've been -- it's not necessarily one particular shot. I've been struggling with my irons the last few weeks. I hit a lot of really good iron shots, ones that started right where I wanted to. 3 was one, 4 was one. They maybe didn't end up that close to the hole, but they were the perfect start line, the right flight and everything, and it was nice to see a few of those.
I saw a couple of putts go in. Probably the highlight of the day, I holed one from the front edge of 11 from maybe 35, 40 feet. That kind of turned what was a really solid nine holes, really felt like I could get it going from there.
Q. You mentioned the iron at 17. You were in between clubs. What about the shot on the last from the fairway?
RYAN FOX: Yeah, that's kind of the shot I've been fighting, the little squirrelly right miss, and I hadn't hit one basically all day until 17. I didn't commit to the shot very well on 18. I probably just needed to hit a hard wedge and I tried to take a little bit off that, as well, and didn't hit it great and obviously just finished in the front bunker. But happy to get that up-and-down. 6-under feels a whole lot better than 5-under.
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