Which Kiwis Have Won Titles on the PGA TOUR?

If 2022 was a dream year for the career of New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox, 2023 is shaping up to be equally as impressive.

The 36-year-old won twice on the DP World Tour last year, with victory in the prestigious Alfred Dunhill Links Championship coming at the expense of some of the finest talents in the game today – such as Rory McIlroy and the world number 17, Tyrrell Hatton.

Those performances have secured Fox invitations to some key events over on the PGA TOUR in America, and so far the son of All Black legend Grant Fox has delivered on the big stage.

.@ryanfoxgolfer wins the @dunhilllinks 🏆#DunhillLinks pic.twitter.com/lDgrSysP52

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 2, 2022

Big-Time Player

A pair of top-30 finishes in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship – known unofficially as golf’s ‘fifth major’ – have been followed by 26th place in The Masters, arguably the most iconic tournament in the sport.

Up to number 41 in the world accordingly, Fox will secure invitations to the U.S. Open and Open Championship if he can retain that ranking until the summer. The bookmakers are already offering odds of 80/1 on Fox to win the U.S. Open, with patriotic Kiwis able to wager on their man using a bet365 bonus code, which provides access to bet credits, markets on a huge range of sports and even live streaming for those with a funded account.

The next step for Fox? A PGA TOUR card, and then the plausibility of winning on golf’s most challenging circuit. But he would be in good company in that regard – seven Kiwis have won a title on the sport’s toughest stage.

Sir Bob Charles

The Carterton man is surely the greatest golfer ever to come from New Zealand.

He won six times on the PGA TOUR between 1963 and 1974, including the 1963 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Charles would add four European Tour trophies to his collection as well as both the New Zealand Open and New Zealand PGA Championship, before dominating the senior ranks with a whopping 25 Senior PGA TOUR wins – including the Senior British Open twice.

Michael Campbell

Five other Kiwis would win once on the PGA TOUR – maybe not as many titles as they would have liked, but a great story to tell nonetheless.

John Lister, Grant Waite and Frank Nobilo followed Charles into the winner’s circle, before a fantastic 2002 for New Zealand golf saw Phil Tataurangi and Craig Perks land the Invensys Classic and the Players Championship respectively.

Michael Campbell, meanwhile, never made the leap to the PGA TOUR – but what a career he enjoyed anyway, landing eight European Tour titles and a co-sanctioned major; the 2005 U.S. Open at the Pinehurst Resort.

In that very same year, Campbell won what was then the richest prize in golf – a cool $1.98 million NZD – for triumphing in the HSBC World Match Play Championship.

Steven Alker is a major champion 🏆

Storybook run continues with a final round 63 to win for the fourth time in under a year @seniorpgachamp. pic.twitter.com/15gvPpOoxx

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 29, 2022

Even in the senior ranks, you have guys like Steven Alker who are in dominant mood – Alker has won five Senior PGA TOUR titles since April 2022 alone, including the PGA Championship.

So there are some pretty big shoes for Fox to fill as he looks to carry the hopes of New Zealand golf fans on his shoulders – the signs are that he’s very much up to the task.