New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox kisses the Claret Jug after winning the 154th Open Championship in dramatic fashion at Royal Birkdale on Sunday. Image courtesy theopen.com.
From a Correspondent
Royal Birkdale, England: There is no other like The Open.
And at the end of a twisting, turning and drama-filled Sunday, Ryan Fox holed a birdie putt like no other as well.
The Open’s archive is rich with iconic moments and the New Zealander created one of his own with a putt on the 72nd hole that will feature in every montage for decades to come.
Fox punched the air and wiped away his tears after draining a 12-foot birdie to become the Champion Golfer of the Year.
He beat Cameron Young by one shot – and what a shot it was.
Fox teed off on 18 tied for the lead at 9 under-par, with Young on the practice range anticipating a play-off – at least.
Royal Birkdale’s 18th hole has played at 161-over-par this week, the toughest on the course, and if one player was going to win before a play-off, the odds were in Young’s favour.
But Fox smoked his tee shot down the centre of the fairway and then stiffed his approach shot 12 feet shy of the hole.
Then came the moment.
Every player dreams of having a putt to win The Open and Fox was never going to leave his short. He hit it firm and true, right into the heart of the cup.
“It’s unbelievable, to be honest” he said.
“My nerves were all over the place, I’m not sure how I hit that putt on 18.
“It’s a dream come true. It’s the first time I’ve seen this trophy up close, it’s pretty amazing.”
Fox soars
Fox’s victory marks his first major title. Indeed, it marks his first top-10 major finish.
The likelihood of either happening seemed remote on Friday night when rounds of 72 and 68 left him at level-par and just two inside the cut-line.
But Fox’s Saturday 62, where he became the third player of the week to equal the record lowest round in a major, saw him jump up the leaderboard and into the final group.
Sam Burns held the 54-hole lead by two, while a clutch of players emerged on Sunday to threaten.
Si Woo Kim, Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood all either led or got within a shot, while Young – 13 groups ahead – was tearing up the course.
Fox, by comparison, struggled. When he headed for the 12th tee box, he was one-over for his round and 7 under overall, still just two shots back but hardly the favourite.
However, from the 13th onwards, he ascended to greatness.
A 12-foot birdie on 13 injected some momentum. Another on the par-5 14th saw him tie Young on nine-under, though a bogey on 15 was a set-back.
A 10-foot birdie on 16 after a fabulous approach from the left rough again boosted him to a tie for the lead.
At that moment, he became the favourite, but he missed his birdie chance on the par-5 17th to add a further twist to the tale.
From T52 on Friday to the Claret Jug, his victory marks the largest 36-hole come back in men’s major history by position.
Young’s charge
Young, meanwhile, will look on with envy after a second runners-up finish.
He was also second to Cameron Smith in The 150th Open in 2022 and will hope the third time is the charm.
He played beautifully on Sunday.
After a back-nine 40 on Saturday afternoon, Young left Royal Birkdale fearing his Claret Jug hopes were over.
By the 10th tee on Sunday, he had earned each of those five shots back.
Calmer winds and a more receptive course because of overnight dew has made an earlier tee time preferable throughout the week.
All three record-equalling rounds of 62 were shot by those teeing off in the morning and Young, off at 12:05pm, had an advantage.
The 29-year-old was dialled in from the start. He birdied each of the first three holes, aggressively targeting the pin with his approach shots and steadily holing each with the putter.
Six feet on 1? No problem. Three feet on 2? Every time. Twelve feet on 3? Centre of the cup.
A birdie on 5 saw Young claw his way back to within a shot of the lead, while another on 9 saw him join it before Burns and Fox had even finished up on the range. He made the turn in just 29 shots.
Four consecutive pars slowed his charge on the back nine but birdies on both of the par-5s at 14 and 17 moved him to 10 under.
Spectators dashed to the 18th to watch him and what unfolded was as dramatic as they could have wished for.
Young’s tee shot found a fairway bunker but, pressed up against the lip, his shot clipped the top and landed in rough 175 yards from the hole.
His third shot again landed in sand, this time in a greenside bunker, leaving him needing a chip-in for par. He got mighty close, too. The ball shaved the right edge of the hole, but it was a bogey finish and a round of 64.
Young then spent the next two-and-a-half hours watching nervously as rivals threatened and then faded. It appeared the Claret Jug would be his, before Fox stood up and snatched it from him.
Fading challenge
Burns was the story on Saturday night after a 62 on Friday and 65 on Saturday earned him the 54-hole lead.
In the end, he ran out of steam, with a round of 72 dropping him to 8 under par for the week and a third-place finish.
Si Woo Kim also held the solo lead at the turn in his final round but three bogeys on the back nine dropped him to 6 under and a tied-sixth finish alongside Casey Jarvis and Lucas Herbert.
And there was Scheffler.
He ranked 105th in strokes gained on the greens this week but the 2025 Champion Golfer of the Year is a fighter and in a Sunday dust-up at a major, he is always there or thereabouts.
The 30-year-old was six shots back but he made a rapid start and birdied three of the first five holes to reach 7 under.
Another on 12 lifted him to eight-under but bogeys on 13 and 15 were damaging and seemed to end his bid to become the first man since Padraig Harrington 18 years ago to defend the Claret Jug.
Scheffler, however, was far from done. He birded 16 and then miraculously birdied 17 after an approach from next to a hospitality tent.
He teed off on 18 needing birdie to match Young but instead recorded one last bogey. A T4 finish is his fourth top-10 at The Open and his 19th in his last 25 major starts.
Falling short
A record attendance of 306,000 were at The 154th Open and the vast majority had been supporting one man.
Tommy Fleetwood has been the belle of the ball at the venue just three miles from where he grew up, and has scrapped and fought on every hole in a desperate bid to make his dream come true.
He nearly did.
Fleetwood started the final round five shots adrift but birdies on 1 and 5 had the vast swarm of spectators who followed his every shot dreaming of something special, particularly when his opening putt landed from 80 feet.
Another birdie on 8 brought the house down.
With the final groups early in their rounds, Fleetwood jumped to 8 under par and one shot off the lead, and Royal Birkdale went into pandemonium.
But just as it appeared he may soar to victory, this old course bit back. Fleetwood’s approach shot on 9 caught a gust of wind and flew through the green, leading to bogey, while errant tee shots on 10 and 11 led to further dropped shots.
With Young in the clubhouse at nine-under, Fleetwood was four back and his race effectively run. He finished with two birdies to join Scheffler in fourth.
“The eighth was pretty emotional,” he said.
“It was just very, very special. There’s only one person that gets to win it, and my dream of winning The Open will carry on and I’ll continue to chase it.
“But stuff like that, walking down 18 and the atmosphere out there, that was beyond stuff that I’ve dreamt of.
“That was just stuff that I never imagined. The crowds were amazing, and they made it the most special week ever for me. I can’t thank them enough.” (courtesy theopen.com)
Also read: Burns battles into lead on sensational Saturday at The Open
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