Vacuum and a laser: Ryan Fox returns to PGA Tour after kidney stones

Ryan Fox returns to the PGA Tour on Friday following the most painful experience of his golfing career.

A severe case of kidney stones saw the world number 45 withdraw from The Players Championship a fortnight ago.

Fox was forced to visit the emergency department three times in two days and eventually required an overnight hospital stay to remove the stones.

"I had to have a procedure where they shoved a laser up somewhere it wasn't supposed to go and zapped them and vacuumed them out." Fox told rova.

"They put a stent in for the inflammation and then I didn't touch golf clubs for maybe 10 days."

When asked about what was worse, missing a big tournament or the pain from the kidney stones, Fox didn’t hesitate.

"Definitely the kidney stones. The Players sucked, but I do not want that pain ever again."

Now Fox has decided to return to competition this week but says the recovery has been a battle.

"The energy levels and everything were pretty bad, your body goes through something pretty intense there and I just couldn't really get the energy to do anything." Fox said.

Fox has made a solid start to the PGA Tour season with four top-25 finishes from four events, including a tie for seventh place at the Genesis Invitational in February.

Given the recent medical ordeal, Fox concedes his form might take a dip heading into the Houston Open where he finished in a share of 15th place last year.

"Yeah, look, I think my expectations have probably gone down a little bit this week, just the body went through a lot, I haven't done a lot of practice in the last 10 days obviously, so we'll see how it goes this week.”

But with the next major just a fortnight away, Fox knows it’s important to get back on the golf course.

"I wanted a rep in before the Masters and the golf game still feels all right," he explained.

“I just hope there's not a little bit of rust for putting the clubs down for 10 days, but I'm still really happy with how the game's trending."

Fox’s best finish at the Masters was a tie for 26th place in 2023.

He tees off at the Houston Open at 2.26am on Friday.