Honorary European Ryan Fox 'Chuffed' By Europe's Ryder Cup Victory

Ryan Fox revealed he was rooting for Team Europe in last week's Ryder Cup and was "bloody chuffed" when Luke Donald's side was able to regain the trophy.

Europe romped to a comprehensive 16.5-11.5 victory over the United States at Marco Simone as they continued the run of European dominance in the tournament on home soil.

Fox was born in New Zealand but has largely plied his trade in Europe on the DP World Tour since turning professional and said he felt like an "honorary European" as he watched last week's action unfold in Rome.

"I've got a lot of mates on that team and was bloody chuffed to see them do what they did, especially that Friday was almost one of the best days of golf you could watch," he said, speaking ahead of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

"I was definitely nervous for the boys on Sunday afternoon - I think they got a little bit tight there for a while as well. [It was] a lot tighter than all of us probably wanted it to be but it was very cool to see some amazing golf down the stretch from a bunch of guys."

One of the stories of the week was the rookie performance of DP World Tour regular Robert MacIntyre, who went unbeaten (2-0-1) during the week, with Fox also singling out the Scotsman for praise.

"He got really close in his first couple of years making the Ryder Cup Team. He always looked like someone who was going to get there. He's had a really solid year this year and it was incredible to qualify automatically for the team, especially considering how strong the top half of that European Team was," the four-time DP World Tour winner said.

"He's always been a guy that if you get him in contention, he doesn't shy away from it, and it was kind of expected last week that that's what he was going to do. He would have been up for the occasion.

"And I think Donald did a really good job, as well, pairing him with Justin Rose, who has that experience. Obviously, he stepped up on Sunday as well when it looked like for a while that his match might have really, really mattered and he playing really solid down the stretch to get the win there. I think there are some pretty big things to come to Bob, and a few on that team actually."

Fox returns to St Andrews as the defending champion having won by one shot over Alex Noren and Callum Shinkwin last year. The 36-year-old has enjoyed a consistent debut season on the PGA Tour this year but returned to Europe in style, claiming victory at the BMW PGA Championship prior to the Ryder Cup after a stunning back-nine surge at Wentworth.

Fox was outside the top 200 in the world rankings as recently as February 2022, but now sits comfortably inside the world's top 50, especially after his latest victory.

"I still don't know what to think about the Wentworth and the BMW PGA. It's the best nine holes of golf I have ever played on that Sunday afternoon, especially considering the circumstances," he added.

"I think it will take a little while to process but it's amazing how much a day can change your kind of life and it's happened to me twice in the last two years. Once here [at the Dunhill] on Sunday last year and then that Sunday at Wentworth changed everything for next year."