By Matt Smith
Ryan Fox is having one hell of a season. The Kiwi, who caught the golfing world’s attention winning the inaugural Ras Al Khaimah Classic as part of the UAE Swing in February, is once again dominating the DP World Tour charts as he leads the Soudal Open and chases a second DP World Tour title of the season.

The in-form and previously unheralded Kiwi has had an amazing 2022, with three top-15 finishes and two close-run things since his RAK triumph, and he is showing no signs of letting up as he carded a third round of 66 in Belgium to reach 11-under, a shot ahead of England’s Sam Horsfield.

Fox took a while to warm up as he covered the first 10 holes in level par on Saturday at Rinkven International Golf Club — cancelling out a bogey on the third with a birdie on the next. But the 35-year-old’s finish was as hot as the weather as he raced home in just 30 strokes to move to the top of the leaderboard in pursuit of his third DP World Tour title.

Germany’s Yannik Paul sits alone in third on nine-under following a 68, with compatriot Marcel Schneider, Fabrizio Zanotti, Niall Kearney and Oliver Bekker all on eight-under. Zanotti’s 65 was the lowest score of the day and lifted the 38 year old from Paraguay 36 places up the leaderboard.

Dale Whitnell and Matti Schmid both dug deep to shoot 73 and remain in contention on seven-under par along with Paul Waring, Robin Roussel, Andy Sullivan, Chase Hanna and Jorge Campillo.

“I played really solid on the back to be honest,” said Fox. “I holed a couple putts as well and I hope I figured something out after a couple of scrappy drives early on in the round, and it felt pretty good form the tenth hole onwards. So, hopefully I can take that into tomorrow.

“I have been in contention the last couple of weeks after RAK,  but then not really done much on Sunday, so I am looking forward to being in the mix again. Obviously, Sam Horsfield is playing some good golf as well, and he is a heck of a player, so hopefully we will have a good tussle tomorrow.”

Horsfield himself added: “It will be fun. I know Foxy pretty well, he is a great dude so it’s going to be fun and really good to battle with him. There will definitely be some long drives and hopefully we will play well and have some fun.”