Golf: Poignant return to Alfred Dunhill Links Championship for Ryan Fox
When Ryan Fox stands on the first tee box for the opening round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews tomorrow night, he will spare a thought for his old mate Shane Warne.
The Australian cricketing legend died suddenly in March, and Fox had played alongside Warne for the last five years at the tournament in Scotland, which features amateurs grouped with professionals and is played over three links courses - St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns - before the cut is made, with the final round at St Andrews.
"There's definitely a bit of sadness here without Warney - so hopefully he's on my side this week and can put on a good performance," Fox told the Herald.
It will be an emotional week. Warne was revered at the tournament and attracted huge public galleries.
"The tour is doing a bit of a memorial for him," Fox said. "This event was huge for him, I know how much he enjoyed it and he played here 14 or 15 times which is pretty impressive. He was loved here and the crowds came out to watch him. Deservedly so - he was a legend on and off the cricket pitch and a legend on the golf course as well.
"I've got some great memories around here with him and none better than last year - we finished second on a countback in the teams event and I think he shot two-under off 10 on the last day, holing putts from all over the place, and I think he beat the three pros in our group off the stick as well.
"I can always look back on that really fondly and I'm sure the tournament's going to celebrate him pretty well this year."
It's been a tumultuous few weeks for Fox, who is 47th in the world rankings. He missed the cut at last week's French Open after returning from a minor knee injury that forced him out of the BMW Championship and Italian Open.
But his performance was impacted by the loss of his golf bag, which failed to make the 45-minute flight between London and Paris. More than a week later it still hasn't been found.
"I've basically been told, speaking to Air France from the London side that it [the bag] definitely got on a plane and went to Paris, and vice versa on the French side, they say, 'oh we definitely haven't received it from Heathrow'. So it could be in Chicago, for all I know."
Fox managed to replace his irons and use similar drivers and woods at the French Open, but couldn't replicate his custom-made putter. The biggest issue proved to be the loss of his shoes with specially fitted orthotics for his troublesome ankles.
"I've managed to get a generic set of orthotics that feel okay and new shoes that are close to what I wear, so hopefully we're sort of back on track after what's been a messy last couple of tournaments for me.
"The clubs are feeling good. I am playing on golf courses I have played a lot and I've played generally pretty well around over the last few years, and a tournament that I really enjoy."
Fox will take a week off next week before heading to Spain for another of the big Tour events, the Andalucía Masters at Valderrama, before he heads to the Mallorca Open (October 20-23).
He will head to South Africa for the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City from November 10-13, before the season-ending Tour Championship in Dubai from November 17-20.