Ryan Fox devastated in hospital bed after | Golf News

PGA Tour skilled Ryan Fox offered a health update from his hospital bed as The Players Championship, where he was set to compete, bought underway at TPC Sawgrass.

The New Zealand golfer shared an image on social media Thursday afternoon depicting himself in a hospital robe but giving a thumbs-up while recuperating from surgical procedure. The post appeared around 4 p.m. ET while the opening spherical of the competitors was still ongoing in Florida.

“Not exactly the week I had planned here The Players,” Fox wrote in the caption accompanying the hospital image. “Unfortunately, some kidney stones took me down on Tuesday night and then had to be dealt with surgically this afternoon.” Meanwhile, ESPN’s opening spherical broadcast was a complete mess, and followers have been shedding it online over the missed coverage, experiences the Mirror US.

“Devastated to miss out on such an amazing event,” he added. “Hoping to have a quick recovery and be back at it soon.”

Fox formally pulled out of the match on Thursday prior to his scheduled first-round tee time. He was set to start his spherical at 1:18 p.m. ET alongside Keegan Bradley and Chris Kirk.

Instead, the sudden medical emergency compelled him to withdraw before putting a single shot. The PGA Tour substituted Fox in the sector with first alternate David Ford to preserve the match’s participant roster intact.

Fox’s absence was a letdown for both him and his followers, who have been impressed by his stable early-season efficiency. He has already secured three top-25 finishes in 2026, including a tie for seventh place at the Genesis Invitational earlier this yr.

These performances indicated that he was gaining momentum heading into one of the PGA Tour’s most prestigious non-major occasions. Fox is at the moment ranked forty fourth in the world and has beforehand reached as high as twenty third.

The Players Championship is often thought of the tour’s unofficial fifth major, boasting a $25 million purse and one of the most aggressive fields in skilled golf. This yr’s lineup contains a star-studded roster, that includes defending champion Rory McIlroy, world no. 1 Scottie Scheffler, 2021 champion Justin Thomas, among others.

Apart from Fox, world No. 4 Collin Morikawa pulled out of the match due to back pain.

His withdrawal got here after enjoying just one gap at Ponte Vedra Beach.

TPC Sawgrass also almost misplaced its reigning champion, McIlroy, who nearly missed the competitors due to a back injury that compelled him to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In other news, broadcast crews caught a stray chook lounging on the well-known island-green par-3 seventeenth gap as a ball rolled on the greens.