Steven Fox reacts to winning the 37th hole of the U.S. Amateur golf tournament at Cherry Hills to beat Michael Weaver, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012, in Cherry Hills Village, Colo.Two days later, his eyes pink from lack of sleep, his voice happy yet weary, Steven Fox was still coming to grips with the U.S. Amateur golf championship he won Sunday in Denver.
“None of this has sunk in yet,” the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams.”
For Fox that’s understandable. The guy hasn’t even made it to a single one of his senior classes yet at UTC — “I probably shouldn’t say that,” he said, blushing — yet the school is throwing him a campus-wide reception Thursday from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Lansing Court.
He’s already received a phone call from U.S. Senator Bob Corker. Professional golfer and fellow Nashville native Brandt Snedeker texted him. Fox also already knows he’s playing the first round of next year’s Masters with that tourney’s defending champ, Bubba Watson, and the U.S. Open with defending champ Webb Simpson.
No wonder he said of the 18-foot birdie he drained on the first extra playoff hole, “I think I blacked out a little [when it went in]. It was unreal.”