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Sports correspondent & historian with |
Ryan Fox has secured a distinguished place in New Zealand sporting history after winning The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in July 2026.
He joins Sir Bob Charles (1963 Open Championship), Michael Campbell (2005 US Open) and Dame Lydia Ko (2015 Evian Championship, 2016 ANA Inspiration and 2024 AIG Women’s Open) among the elite group of New Zealanders to claim a major.
Fox’s world ranking climbed dramatically following his Open victory, reaching a career-best No 22.
Built more like a rugby player than the stereotypically lean golfer, Fox’s sporting pedigree suggested rugby or cricket might have become his chosen career.
His maternal grandfather was Merv Wallace, who became New Zealand cricket cap No 32 when he was selected for the national test team in 1937. Ryan’s father Grant Fox was a member of the All Blacks side that won the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987.
What is less well known is that Grant Fox was also an extremely talented cricketer who, in today’s era of specialist formats, might well have pursued a professional career in the sport.
This suggestion is supported by his performances for the Bay of Plenty representative cricket team during the early 1980s.
The Fox family moved to Te Puke during Grant’s youth, and he quickly established himself in Bay of Plenty rugby and cricket.
Fox made his Bay of Plenty representative cricket debut against Northland in February 1982 at the age of 19, earning Bay of Plenty Cricket Association player No 352.
He finished his time with the Bay side after two seasons of minor association representative cricket, compiling 257 runs from nine appearances, with a highest score of 50 not out.
One of the pleasures of being a sporting historian is uncovering little-known gems hidden away in the record books.
One such discovery was that Grant Fox was just one of three future All Blacks to have played Bay of Plenty representative cricket.
Blair Furlong, who would go on to play 11 matches for the All Blacks, including the 1970 tour of South Africa, spent a brief period living with his mother in the Eastern Bay of Plenty during the mid-1960s.
The Hawke’s Bay resident stepped away from the intense scrutiny of being regarded as “the next big thing” in Hawke’s Bay rugby to enjoy relative anonymity in the Bay of Plenty.
Furlong played three representative matches for Bay of Plenty, making his debut against King Country in December 1966. His contribution to Bay of Plenty cricket amounted to 75 runs and one wicket.
Between the representative careers of Furlong and Fox came another future All Black, Wayne Graham.
Educated at Tauranga Boys’ College, Graham was a hard-hitting batsman and lively pace bowler who earned selection in the New Zealand Secondary Schools cricket team.
He received a solitary Bay of Plenty representative cap at just 16 years of age in a match against Poverty Bay in January 1975, scoring eight runs and taking one wicket.
Graham later moved to Otago to attend university, where rugby quickly became his sporting priority. The former Western Bay of Plenty resident played 112 matches for Otago and made eight appearances for the All Blacks, including one test match.
Blair Furlong, Wayne Graham and Grant Fox all emerged from an era when talented sportsmen could successfully compete at a high level in both rugby and cricket.
A select few, such as Jeff Wilson, even went on to represent New Zealand internationally in both sports.
Unfortunately, in today’s professional era, many promising young athletes are forced to choose a sporting pathway while still in their early secondary school years, making dual-sport careers increasingly rare.