Ryan Fox wins Open Championship with dramatic birdie on 18th
New Zealander Ryan Fox secured his first major title at Royal Birkdale, sinking an 11-foot putt on the final hole to win the Open Championship, while Bryson DeChambeau finished tied for 14th after a penalty controversy.
Ryan Fox captured his first major title at the Open Championship on Sunday, delivering a decisive birdie on the 18th hole at Royal Birkdale. The 39-year-old New Zealander entered the final round three shots behind the clubhouse leader Cam Young, who had posted a 9-under total earlier in the day. After a shaky stretch that included two bogeys, Fox rallied with three birdies on the back nine to tie Young heading into the last hole, which had produced only four birdies all tournament.
Fox’s tee shot on the 18th landed in the middle of the fairway, and his approach left him with an 11-foot putt. He sank the putt to finish at 10-under, securing the Claret Jug. > "To play that last hole how I did, I stood on the tee and said to my caddie Dean, we're going to try to win this," Fox said. "I hit two perfect shots. I'm not sure how I hit the putt. My hands were all over the place. It's surreal that it went in."
Cam Young, who had taken the lead earlier, finished one stroke behind after a bogey on the final hole. Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau, who had been penalised two strokes for improving his lie on the fifth hole of the second round, finished tied for 14th, unable to recover from the setback.
The tournament also featured several low rounds, including three separate 62-stroke rounds by Lucas Herbert, Sam Burns and Fox himself, the latter two having posted the lowest consecutive round scores in major-championship history. Burns, who led after three rounds, fell back after three early bogeys on Sunday.
Young reflected on his near-playoff finish, saying, "I thought 10 had a decent chance. I've played around the lead in majors enough to know that scraping out even par on a Sunday in a major championship can be really difficult. So you figure those guys at the top, somebody's probably going to make a run, but I was just close enough where I felt like maybe the lead could stay the same."
The Open concluded with Fox’s victory marking the first major win of his career and adding his name to the list of champions at Royal Birkdale.