While other golfers might ask their caddie for their thoughts on a read in such a big moment, Fox and Smith have developed a strong partnership over the years and Smith knew exactly what Fox needed in that moment. <\/p>\n
Ryan Fox (right) celebrates with caddie Dean Smith (centre) and coach Marcus Wheelhouse (left) after winning the Open Championship. Photo \/ AFP<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t asked him for anything to do with on the greens in I don\u2019t even know how long. Like, five years, and I think if I did ask him, maybe not in that situation, but if I did ask him normally, he\u2019d give me a bad read so he doesn\u2019t get called in again,\u201d Fox said. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always just stayed away. That\u2019s how I like it. That\u2019s how he likes it. And I did see a pretty cool photo at the end there where that putt went in and I can see he\u2019s on the other side of the green just on his knees with a big fist pump.\u201d <\/p>\n
It led to beautiful scenes on the broadcast as Fox took the time to call his wife, Anneke, and daughters, Isobel and Margot, telling them he would be bringing home a trophy just as he promised, then speaking to his parents, Adele and Grant, before gathering himself to go and collect the Claret Jug \u2013 one of golf\u2019s most iconic trophies. <\/p>\n
Fox will keep the real Claret Jug for the next year, before returning it at Scotland\u2019s famed St Andrews course for the next edition of the Open Championship, while he gets a replica to keep permanently. <\/p>\n
His winner\u2019s speech and the following media obligations were the beginning of an hours-long celebration for Fox, Smith and their friends on site as they put the Claret Jug to great use. <\/p>\n
\u201cI carried it around like a baby most of the night last night,\u201d Fox said. <\/p>\n
\u201cActually, I will say, I was pretty smart. We did fill it up with wine multiple times and I found it hard after a while to drink. It was just that my adrenaline was going. Like, I had enough, but it was just one of those things. I couldn\u2019t keep doing it so I just kind of passed it on to everyone else and said, you guys drink out of it. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got the thing for the next year, so you guys can enjoy it tonight and I\u2019m going to enjoy it the rest of the year. It was stuff that dreams are made of. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got some pretty cool videos which probably should never see the light of day of various people drinking out of it and it was a pretty cool evening to be honest.\u201d <\/p>\n
Fox got picked up from his accommodation to go to the airport in Manchester at 4.15am local time the morning after his win. <\/p>\n
The celebrations wrapped up around 3am. <\/p>\n
Fox said he decided early on that pulling an all-nighter was probably the best course of action given his early flight time and that he would go for the lie-flat bed option on his second flight from London to Miami. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no way I could lie down and go to sleep at that point anyway. My brain was absolutely buzzing and my phone was probably buzzing more to be honest,\u201d Fox said. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo I talked to a few people at home that mean a lot to me and it was pretty cool to be able to do that just while things quietened down and a couple of people were in a bad way passed out on a couch somewhere.\u201d <\/p>\n
On top of a sleepless night, Fox had the fun of trying to figure out how to best transport his two newly acquired trophy cases at the airport, both flying from Manchester to London and from London to Miami. <\/p>\n
He admitted that looking at the boxes, they were the size that you would think should go in the cargo hold, but he wasn\u2019t about to risk being the guy who lost the Claret Jug in transit \u2013 and figured British Airways probably wouldn\u2019t want to risk being the airline that lost it either. <\/p>\n
Ryan Fox is the fourth Kiwi to win a major championship. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Thankfully, he was able to get it sorted at the check-in desk and was allowed to board with four carry-on items. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got on the plane, they said, just chuck it in the overhead compartment, it should fit, and if it doesn\u2019t, we\u2019ll figure out where to put it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThankfully it did on both flights. I will say, it was a little bit awkward with four carry-on bags.\u201d <\/p>\n
Landing in London, Fox was the last person on the plane as he didn\u2019t want to hold anyone up trying to get the cases down from the overhead compartment. <\/p>\n
Back in Florida \u2013 and not getting as much sleep as he had hoped to on the flights – Fox had about a 90-minute drive from Miami International Airport to his home in Jupiter, where he was looking forward to celebrating the win with his family. <\/p>\n
While he had planned to play tournaments over the next couple of weeks in the lead-in to the PGA Tour playoffs, winning the Open Championship shot him well inside the top 30 on the tour where, if he stayed, would secure him entry into all three tournaments in the playoffs and put him in the hunt for the Tour Championship. <\/p>\n
He was instead planning to take the next three weeks off to embrace the chaos that came with being a major champion before returning for the first stop of the playoffs \u2013 the St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis in mid-August. <\/p>\n
\u201cI honestly can\u2019t fathom trying to play a tournament right now,\u201d Fox said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just need a little bit of time to kind of collect myself and work out what all this means, what all this does, you know, deal with all the stuff that comes with winning a major, which is going to be exciting and very different. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m quite looking forward to a few weeks off, get to rest and recuperate and then get ready for Memphis in [a few] weeks.\u201d <\/p>\n