Ryan Fox wins the Open Championship, claiming first in shocking fashion

Cameron Young shot a 64 on Sunday at Royal Birkdale, then waited. And he waited. And he waited some more. He started the day seventh behind but now holds the lead, even though the hole he started in was too big for him to overcome and win the Open Championship, right?

But the longer he waited – it was more than two hours – the longer it seemed he might lift the Claret Jug.

And then Ryan Fox canceled his show.

The 39-year-old New Zealander, ranked 56th in the World, birdied two of the last three holes, including the par-4 18th, to one-up Young and claim the biggest title of his career.

It’s the first major title for Fox, which before Sunday had never recorded a top 10 in its previous 28 games. He has won all over the world and at several courses, and his biggest victory was at the BMW PGA Championship, the flagship event of the DP World Tour, back in 2023. Last year he won the PGA Tour’s Myrtle Beach event and the RBC Canadian Open.

At the Open, Fox jumped into contention with a 62 on Saturday and earned a spot in the final pairing with 54-hole leader Sam Burns on Sunday. Fox was one over 12 holes Sunday, but birdied four of his last six to shoot a two-under 68. He birdied the 12th on the 18th, which pushed him to 10 under and stole the title from Young, who held the clubhouse lead for several hours at nine under.

Even before the first balls hit the air on Sunday, it had been an eventful few days on England’s northwest coast.

Three players – Lucas Herbert and Burns on Friday, and Fox on Saturday – shot 62, tying for the major championship record.

Then there’s Bryson DeChambeau, who added a lot of drama to the senior golfer when he got involved in a rules dispute Friday night. DeChambeau put the tournament (and tee times in the third round) on hold when he defied what would later become a two-stroke penalty for inadvertently improving his target on his second shot on the 5th hole. After that, he hit the balls late into the night at the Royal Birkdale range, an awkward scene where more than a dozen journalists watched and waited to see if he would answer questions when he was done. (He didn’t.)

Several players were asked about the controversial penalty and many responded on the sensitive topic, although Rory McIlroy had no problem expressing his opinion. He said he believed there was “no doubt” DeChambeau advanced the linebacker and said the penalty was fair. (“I’m not going to pretend I’m up here and defending Bryson,” McIlroy said. “I don’t particularly like him.”)

On Sunday, the focus was solely on golf.

Burns started at 10-under and a two-shot lead, though he has been 1-for-5 in converting 54 holes or the joint leaders in his career. Fox and Si Woo Kim were both eight years under, while Ryan Gerard and Herbert were seven years under. Other stars are lurking: Ludwig Aberg and DeChambeau at six under, Tommy Fleetwood at five under and Scottie Scheffler at four under.

Burns’ lead was still at two when he exited the final pairing, but the leaderboard was quickly shaken up.

Young started his day with five straight 3s — good for four birdies — and shot a 64 to post a nine-under par, except for the 18th-hole bogey, to lead the clubhouse. Burns birdied the 2nd hole but went bogey-bogey-bogey on Nos. 4-6. At that time, some of the names of the tents began to fade. Fleetwood, the hometown favorite, made bogeys on 9, 10 and 11. DeChambeau made a triple-bogey 7 on the 11th.

Scheffler, who has hit the ball well all week but struggled with a cold putter, got off to a good start but made bogeys on 13 and 15, birdied only 16 and 17 and gave himself a chance to tie Young. In the end, he bogeyed 18 and shot 67 to finish seven under and tied with Fleetwood for fourth.

As the day went on, everyone was still chasing Young, who needed to start feeling better about where he stood in the back nine.

Burns, Kim and Fox were all eight under five to play, but Fox went birdie-bogey-birdie on Nos. 14-16 to tie Young at nine under to play. After missing his birdie try on 17, Fox went to the 18th hole needing a birdie to win and force a playoff. He found the fairway and the green, and after Burns missed his birdie putt, the stage belonged to Fox.

The new owner of the Claret Jug did not miss out.

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