Ryan Fox stood on the 18th tee at Royal Birkdale on Sunday and told his caddie, flat out: “We’re going to try to win this.” Not “let’s see what happens.” Not “stay patient.” Just a 39-year-old New Zealander, 200-1 to win the thing at the start of the week, deciding out loud that he was going to take the Claret Jug home. Then he did exactly that — and the Ryan Fox Open Championship win is already being called one of the gutsiest closes in major history.
The 62 That Started It
Fox’s Saturday was the kind of round that gets talked about for decades. Nine birdies, a back nine with five of them in a row at one stretch, and a bunker shot on 18 that Golf Channel had other players trying to recreate the next day just to see if it was possible. The final number was 62 — tying the lowest round ever shot in men’s major championship history. He went from an afterthought in the field to the final pairing overnight.
Sunday Was the Hard Part
Third-round 62s are fun. Holding on with a lead is a different sport. Sam Burns took a two-shot cushion into Sunday and faded. Cameron Young caught fire and posted a final-round 64 hours before Fox even reached the back nine, setting a target at -9. Fox needed to play the last few holes clean just to force a playoff, and better than clean to win outright.
He got the approach on 18 to about 12 feet. Then came the putt he’ll be describing for the rest of his career: “I’m not sure how I hit the putt straight to be honest, everything was shaking, trembling. I’ve got a putt to win a major — it’s a whole lot different in real life, I can tell you that.” It went in. Final score: -10, one clear of Young, and a first major title at an age when most players are being quietly written off as tour mainstays rather than future major champions.
Bring Back a Trophy
Fox’s family watched from Florida, and the moment that got people after the trophy lift wasn’t the swing analysis — it was him choking up on a FaceTime call, relaying that his kids had told him the night before to “bring back a trophy.” He did better than that. He became the third-oldest major winner of the last decade, behind only Phil Mickelson’s 2021 PGA and Tiger Woods’ 2019 Masters, and just the third New Zealander to ever win a men’s major.
None of it looked planned twelve months ago. That’s what makes it ballsy — not a favorite closing the deal, but a 200-1 shot who said out loud on the last tee that he was going for it, and then actually went and got it.
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For more info: Golf Digest