Ryan Fox has completed a unique Kiwi professional golf trifecta, winning the Seve Ballesteros Award as DP World Tour Players' Player of the Year.
The success caps a year when compatriot Lydia Ko captured LPGA Player of the Year honours and Steve Alker was PGA Champions Tour Player of the Year.
"An absolute honour to win the Seven Award for 2022," Fox posted on social media. "It's truly special to have my name on a trophy bearing the great men's name, along with some icons of the @dpworldtour.
"A huge thank you to Javier and Carmen Ballesteros for coming to Dubai to present the award - it made it even more special."
Spaniard Ballesteros was one of the game's greatest players, capturing five Majors - including three British Open titles - between 1979-88 and dominating the European Tour - now known as the DP World Tour - during that period.
Ballesteros died in 2011, aged 54, but the award was presented to Fox by son Javier and daughter Carmen.
In 2022, Fox, 36, rose to No.23 in world rankings, with two wins on the European Tour - including the prestigious Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrew's - and runner-up in the overall tour standings, behind Northern Irish superstar Rory McIlroy.
This month, he realised a lifelong dream, when he was officially invited to the US Masters at Augusta - the only Major he has not contested yet.
"It's official!" Fox posted on Instagram. "Pretty cool to come home from holiday and have this in the letterbox waiting."
As the new DP World Tour season begins, he is currently competing at the Dubai Desert Classic, where he was tied for 22nd, after an opening round of 69, with play suspended for bad light during the second round.
After playing with a broken driver in the season opener at Abu Dhabi, Fox came within centimetres of a hole-in-one during the opening round at Dubai, hitting close off the tee at the par-three seventh.
He was also caught in the crossfire between warring playing partners McIroy - a PGA Tour loyalist - and American Patrick Reed, who joined the rebel Saudi-backed LIV Tour.
Reed's lawyer served a subpoena on McIlroy on Christmas Eve, calling on him to reveal contents of a PGA players meeting at Delaware last August.
