Ryan Fox had never finished inside the top 10 of a major before arriving at The Open. Ranked 56th at the time, the New Zealander was considered a 200-1 outsider to lift the Claret Jug. By the end of the second round, he had only just scraped through the cut. But as the dust settled on Sunday, Fox had staged a remarkable comeback to claim his first major title. Little did he know then that it would lead to him getting stalked.

“I got stalked to a bakery to have a pie on the morning I arrived back home,” he said during an interview with For the Love of Golf. “Like that’s never happened before.”

While stalking someone may be taking things to the extreme, it is perhaps not surprising that Fox attracted such attention after the grand reception he received on returning to New Zealand. He arrived in Auckland a few days after the tournament and was greeted at the airport by his father, former All Black Grant Fox, alongside his wife and children. The biggest celebration, however, was still to come on July 28 at Auckland’s Takutai Square.

Thousands gathered for a public civic reception organised by Auckland Council. Crowds spilled onto surrounding streets, lined the green carpet, and cheered from rooftops and balconies as Fox, accompanied by his family, coach, and Mayor Wayne Brown, hoisted the Claret Jug on stage. After all, the 39-year-old had become only the second New Zealander to win The Open, following Sir Bob Charles in 1963.

Fox is also the third New Zealand man to win a men’s major, joining Charles and Michael Campbell, who claimed the 2005 U.S. Open. Including Lydia Ko’s major victories, he is part of a group of four New Zealanders to have won major championships across the men’s and women’s games. Nevertheless, despite Fox’s claims about being stalked, there appear to be no publicly available reports of police complaints relating to the incident and Fox’s account was lighthearted.

Moreover, little is known about the individual who allegedly stalked Fox or the motive. However, given the timing, it is possible that Fox’s Open Championship triumph and the attention that followed played a role in the incident. That said, this isn’t the first time someone in the spotlight has been in the centre of such behaviour. 

Paige Spiranac has faced stalking and harassment both online and in person. During her university years, she revealed on her podcast, Playing a Round, that a group of female students stalked and harassed her because they wrongly believed she was romantically interested in a university strength trainer. The ordeal forced her to delete her original Instagram account and adopt the middle name ‘Paige Renee’ to protect her privacy.

In 2023, Spiranac secured a three-year civil harassment restraining order against Eric Fuhs, an obsessed fan who allegedly followed her to golf tournaments and held delusional beliefs that they were communicating. Fuhs had also reportedly been involved in a previous restraining order case concerning actress Olivia Wilde. Besides Spiranac, Hailey Ostrom, Michelle McGann, and others have also faced stalking problems. 

Coming back to Ryan Fox, since his major victory, Fox achieved a career-high world ranking around No. 22, where he has largely remained. In terms of his performance, the 39-year-old finished T58 at the FedEx St. Jude, T47 at the BMW Championship, and 26th at the Tour Championship. And in September, he posted a strong T6 at the BMW PGA Championship before competing in the Presidents Cup for the International team.

Now, the New Zealander is headed to India for the DP World India Championship, which is set to begin on Thursday at the Delhi Golf Course.