Ryan Fox tees off in the Players Championship at Sawgrass in March. (Source: Photosport)
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All Ryan Fox has wanted is to play on the PGA Tour.
Every moment toiling away on what are considered lesser tours to the behemoth of the big time in the United States has been to earn his way there.
But now he's there, he's not sure he wants to stay.
"I've got a foot in each camp," Fox told 1News from Louisville as he prepares for the first round of the second men's major of the year, the PGA Championship.
By "each camp" he means the PGA Tour or heading back to the European Tour.
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"We've committed to give it a good crack now at least until the playoffs here and if I can get myself into the playoffs that would be amazing, if not I can reassess at the end of the year and decide whether to go back to DP World Tour (European Tour)."
"The PGA Tour's been a dream for a while (but) I'm not sure the reality has quite lived up to the dream.
"Especially after last year, I got to play all the big events last year and that was really good and I missed out on a bunch of them earlier in the year by a couple of world ranking places, it was hard to pick a schedule and I've played almost a vastly different tour than I did last year and that's been tough."
That's because qualification for the big events on the Tour has vastly changed this year. In a move to counter the threat of LIV Golf, the PGA Tour introduced Signature Events - eight standalone events deemed as the main tournaments of the year, outside of the four majors and the Players' Championship.
Previously, being in the top-50 in the Official World Golf Rankings would've been enough to play in whatever PGA Tour event he wanted. Now that's been cut to the top-30 while then rewarding previous Tour performances more.
It means Fox, now ranked 58th in the world, has gone from knowing he would've been in them all, to not being in any of them.
"It feels like there's two separate tours going on. This year I feel like I'm playing a completely different tour and I'm certainly not the only guy that feels that way.
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"I know some of the guys who have played the Signature Events are like it's weird playing in 70-man fields with no cut, it feels like a small event.
"The last few years in Europe it's been a lot simpler, I can basically pick a schedule at the start of the year and go 'OK, I'm going to play all of these and if I get in a major, then I can obviously add that to the schedule'. This year I know I'm in all the majors but I don't know what PGA Tour events I'm in, that's made all the off course stuff extra hard trying to travel with the family as well."
The 37-year-old is now based in the States with his wife and two young daughters. But it's meant constant travel.
"(It's) a decision we made at the start of the year - and I don't think there was going to be an easy decision either way - I was going to be away for a long time, which is really hard with two young kids, or we're dragging them around the US.
"Domestic travel here has not been as easy as I probably thought it was going to be. Lots of delays and dragging three-or-four suitcases around and golf bags, prams, cars. All of that has been pretty tough."
It's showed in his results. And to make it clear, Fox isn't blaming anyone else for his overall struggles so far in his first full year as a PGA Tour member.
In 12 events, he's missed six cuts.
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"It's been a strange year. I started off OK in Dubai and then I had an eight in the last round of the Dubai Desert Classic to go from the top 10 to 30th and that set the tone for the rest of the year," Fox explained.
"The good shots have been there (but) I've always seemed to have something that hasn't quite worked. Whether I've had a bad week with the putter or drove it poorly or whatever, it's not been consistent in that regard, it's seemed to be something different every week."
Ryan Fox hits out of a bunker during the third round of the Masters recently - he says he played better than he scored. (Source: Photosport)
But he could well have turned a corner at just the time.
In the last three tournaments he's had his best PGA Tour finishes to date - tied for fourth first at the teams event Zurich Classic then last week at the Myrtle Beach Classic. It comes just in time for the PGA Championship teeing off at Valhalla later tonight (NZT).
"Definitely (the game's) a lot better.
"Ironically the Masters was one where it started to change golf wise. I played a lot better and I probably played better than I scored there as well. And it was nice to know the golf game was there somewhere and I come in this week off the back of a couple of half decent results and I feel like the bad shots have been reined in a little bit, the putter started to work a little bit last week, the short game's started to feel decent, I started to hit some iron shots close, so it's nice coming in here with a little bit of confidence."
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He'll need it, with Valhalla a beast of a course, measuring 6957m. The rough's long, the target areas on the greens are tight and accuracy is vital.
"It's just a proper major championship golf course.
"If you drive the ball well you will have some chances this week. There are some holes you can hit a few wedges into, but if you're hacking it out of the rough the whole time or missing greens it's going to kick your butt pretty quickly and that's what you want. I think the scores will be spread out this week.
"I could see guys shooting a score if they're on, but I could also see if you're a little bit off it's going to be pretty hard to stay around par."
Fox won't be the only Kiwi lining up in the field, with rising Canterbury youngster Kazuma Kobori qualifying after topping the PGA Tour of Australasia's Order of Merit.
Kobori only turned pro in November.
"It's going to be a big step up for him this week," Fox said of Kobori's chances.
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"I played a practice round with him on Monday and I don't think he's seen anything like it in his golf career yet. The length, the toughness and I'm trying to talk to him about some of the pin placements and the set up the golf course.
"It'll be pretty tough and it's a great opportunity for him. I hope he doesn't put any expectation on himself to do well, just go out and enjoy it."
And while all that's going on for Fox, he also wanted to take a moment to mention compatriot and good mate Michael Hendry, who won this week on the Japan Tour as he continues his recovery from Leukaemia.
"Just inspirational really, what he's gone through in the last year. Just to be back playing is impressive, let alone winning on the Japan Tour, it's a hard tour to win on and I've messaged him already but look forward to catching up with him in person and hopefully celebrating with a glass of red up at The Open."
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