The threat of surgery triggered a change in Ryan Fox.

Toward the back end of his 2024 season, the Kiwi golfer was dealing with a hip injury. It wasn’t so much an issue of pain, but it was impacting his movement.

Initially trying to play through and address it with physiotherapy, he eventually went for scans, which showed a labral tear and femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) in his right hip.

Fox got a cortisone shot toward the back end of the year, which helped, and has been taking the injury into account when making decisions this year, getting fitter in the process.

“I basically got told ‘you’ve got to sort yourself out or you’re staring down the barrel of surgery’,” Fox told Newstalk ZB’s D’Arcy Waldegrave.

“It’s obviously a bit easier to make a change when you’ve got a gun pointed to your head like that. I’ve tried my best to carry it on this year. It’s hard to keep up with the gym stuff during tournament weeks, especially when you’ve played a bunch in a row and after a week like last week, I wouldn’t want to think of going to the gym this week and just kind of chill out.

“But I’m trying to do things a little bit better. It’s a bit hard in America. I do like my food and they generally do the fatty, sugary, good kinds of food pretty well over here. There have been a few weak moments, but for the most part I’m trying to do a little bit better and obviously it’s helped out on the golf course this year.”

The 38-year-old has had a solid year on the PGA Tour, but the last month has been a remarkable one.

In his last four events, Fox has two wins, a top-20 finish and a top-30, which has seen him shoot up to No 25 on the FedEx Cup (PGA Tour) leaderboard and to No 32 in the world rankings.

His win at the RBC Canadian Open on Monday earned him a spot in this week’s US Open at Oakmont, as it pushed him inside the top 60 in the world.

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The course at Oakmont is among the toughest tests a golfer can face, with the thick rough standing at 12.7cm (5in) long and groomed in such a way that the golf ball will sink into it rather than sit on top. The course also features lightning-quick greens, while there are areas of the course that will punish players who leave their approaches short.

The last time the US Open was contested at Oakmont was in 2016, when Dustin Johnson won with a score of four-under-par. The previous time the major was held at the course near Pittsburgh was in 2007, when Argentine Ángel Cabrera won at five-over-par.

“I like hard golf, and this is about as hard as it gets,” Fox said.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.