Fox, fresh off two top-three finishes on the European Tour, seemed to be in cruise mode for his first 12 holes, his only complaint being a lack of birdies amongst 12 par scores.

However, things began to unravel for Fox at the 13th hole as he recorded three consecutive bogeys, largely at the hands of his short game.

A brief respite from the pain occurred on the 16th as he nailed a long putt to secure his lone birdie of the round. However, on the 18th he found trouble once again; his tee shot landed in a fairway bunker which forced him to lay-up 170m from the pin before he took another four shots to find the hole and a double-bogey to finish

With the four-over round, Fox lies in a tie for 112th on the leaderboard and a whopping 13 shots behind the leader Cameron Tringale from the USA.

Tringale, who has played 331 times on the PGA Tour without winning, shot a career-best round of 9-under 61 which might help him break his winning drought at a tournament run by the European tour.

Tringale ran off six straight birdies to start the back nine at The Renaissance Club on Friday and had a three-shot lead in the first European event co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour.

Meanwhile, LIV rebel Ian Poulter - who battled to have his Scottish Open ban overturned during the week - shot an eight-over 78 that saw him fall 16 shots behind the leader and in a tie for 151st in the 160-man field.

Poulter was adamant the attention did not affect him. "I didn't feel any nerves in any way, shape or form," Poulter, who finished third here last year, said. "Why should I? This has been my home tour for 24 years."

- with AP and Daily Telegraph UK

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