Speaking on Newstalk ZB\u2019s Mike Hosking Breakfast, Fox admitted he spent most of the night celebrating before heading to the airport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in better shape, to be honest, but it\u2019s all worth it,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe finished up about 3am, and I had a pickup at 4.15 to go to the airport in Manchester, so I decided at that point I wasn\u2019t going to bed, and it was going to be easier to pull an all-nighter and hopefully get some sleep on the plane from London to Miami, which I kind of failed at.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I put my head down, my head was still spinning, not necessarily from the alcohol, more from just what had transpired over the last 24 hours or so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fox was tied for 52nd at the halfway stage of the tournament but surged into contention after equalling the lowest single-round score in major golf history with a 62.<\/p>\n
He held his nerve in the final round, coming up clutch down the stretch to put his name alongside Sir Bob Charles, Michael Campbell, and Dame Lydia Ko as New Zealand\u2019s only major golf winners.<\/p>\n
Victory also opens doors for Fox.<\/p>\n
Along with pocketing $3.2 million ($5.48m) of the record $17.75m purse, he rises to a career-best 22nd in the Official World Golf Ranking and is exempt into The Open until the age of 55 and into the next five editions of the other three majors. His PGA Tour membership exemption as the Open champion extends to 2031.<\/p>\n
Fox also gets to keep the Claret Jug for a year and has been given a slightly smaller replica, although he is yet to see it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that my life is going to change pretty significantly,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got an idea of what\u2019s coming in terms of golf, but no idea how it affects off the golf course yet and some of the opportunities that arise and all the extra stuff that I\u2019m going to have to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019ll change where we live or what we do, I think we\u2019re pretty happy with all of that, but it just does open a lot of doors going forward and I\u2019m looking forward to seeing what some of those doors are, to be honest. I don\u2019t even know where to start thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fox has been bombarded with congratulatory messages in the aftermath of his win, but one that stood out came from Ko.<\/p>\n
In a video posted on The Open\u2019s social media accounts, Ko congratulates Fox from a golf course while he sits at a table with the trophy and a glass of red wine in hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello, Champion Golfer of the Year,\u201d Ko said. \u201cI was crying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fox replied: \u201cI still don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on,\u201d before wishing Ko the best of luck for the Women\u2019s Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes, which starts later this month.<\/p>\n
Fox said he can\u2019t wait to bring the trophy back to New Zealand.<\/p>\n