Ryan Fox\u2019s extraordinary year will have another chapter in Australia, with the reigning Open champion confirmed to join two-time Masters winner Rory McIlroy at the Capital.com Australian Open at Kingston Heath Golf Club in December.<\/p>\n
The New Zealand No.1 secured the biggest victory of his career at Royal Birkdale in July with a stunning birdie on the final hole sealing a one-shot win and will arrive at the famed Melbourne Sandbelt eager to finish 2026 in style.<\/p>\n
Fox will be chasing a rare piece of golfing history, looking to become the first player since American Bill Rogers in 1981 to win The Open and the Australian Open in the same calendar year.<\/p>\n
The only other members of that elite club are Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been the most memorable year of my golfing career, and to finish it by coming back to Australia and playing the Australian Open is something I\u2019m really looking forward to,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWinning The Open was obviously a career highlight and something I\u2019ll never forget, but I\u2019ve still got plenty of motivation to finish the year strongly.<\/p>\n
RELATED: Rory McIlroy speaks on his return to Melbourne and the 2026 Australian Open\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Australian Open is a tournament with a lot of history and one I\u2019ve always enjoyed being part of.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love coming back to Melbourne and playing on the Sandbelt. The courses are so good, they\u2019re a great test of golf and there\u2019s a real passion for the game in that part of the world. Kingston Heath is a fantastic venue for an Australian Open.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be pretty special to cap off what\u2019s been an incredible year with a strong performance. I\u2019m looking forward to getting back out there, enjoying the atmosphere and giving myself a chance to be in the finish on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland said Fox\u2019s commitment was another major boost for the tournament which is co-sanctioned by the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and DP World Tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cRyan has had an incredible year,\u201d Sutherland said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have him joining Rory McIlroy, the reigning Masters champion, gives Australian fans a fantastic opportunity to see two of the biggest names in world golf competing at Kingston Heath.<\/p>\n
\u201cRyan has a strong connection with Australia and is always a popular player when he competes here. His enthusiasm for the Sandbelt and the Australian Open is terrific, and we\u2019re looking forward to welcoming him back in December.\u201d<\/p>\n
PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman said Fox\u2019s presence at the Capital.com Australian Open was a powerful example of the pathways available to players through the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.<\/p>\n
\u201cRyan has built his career from our Tour where he won three times to the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, and now returns as a major champion. That\u2019s a fantastic story and one that shows what\u2019s possible for players coming through our region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an outstanding player and a terrific ambassador for golf in Australia and New Zealand. Having him back competing here, alongside a field of this calibre, is fantastic for the Capital.com Australian Open and for golf fans across the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fox joins Joaquin Niemann, Corey Conners, Sahith Theegala, Daniel Hillier, Carlos Ortiz, Sebastian Munoz and Josele Ballester as major international names in the field for Kingston Heath.<\/p>\n
RELATED: Kiwi golfer wins BMW with hole-in-one \u2013 after a mis-hit<\/p>\n
He\u2019s hoping to have plenty of Trans-Tasman support as he tries to become the first New Zealander to win the Stonehaven Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully we\u2019ll see plenty of Kiwis out there in the galleries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always great to have that support when you\u2019re playing across the Tasman, and hopefully there\u2019ll be a few New Zealand flags around Kingston Heath cheering for all of the Kiwi boys.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2026 Capital.com Australian Open will be played at Kingston Heath Golf Club from December 3-6.<\/p>\n
The 2026 men\u2019s Capital.com Australian Open is supported by the Victorian Government through Visit Victoria.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Fox\u2019s extraordinary year will have another chapter in Australia, with the reigning Open champion confirmed to join…","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_volume":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[37,5948,5949,528,332,783,4744,17,51,5950],"class_list":["post-17480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rory-mcilroy","tag-australian-open","tag-capital-com-australian-open","tag-challenger-pga-tour-of-australasia","tag-daniel-hillier","tag-dp-world-tour","tag-kingston-heath","tag-new-zealand","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-ryan-fox","tag-stonehaven-cup","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@fogolf\/117470464875550386","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/pros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}