Ryan Fox Captures 1st Major Victory at 154th Open Championship Following Epic Comeback

Ryan Fox claimed his 1st major title after an epic rally on Saturday and Sunday at the Royal Birkdale in England.

Ryan Fox Captures 1st Major Victory at 154th Open Championship Following Epic Comeback

Ryan Fox (Image via X/@TheOpen)

Ryan Fox is the 2026 Champion Golfer of the Year. The New Zealand international captured his 1st major victory at the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in England following an epic comeback in the final two rounds.

The 39-year-old started the tournament with an opening round score of 72 and followed this up with a round of 68 on Friday. It was on Saturday when his charge really began.

On the moving day, he made 5 birdies on the front nine and shot a score of 29. Despite a bogey on the back nine, he recorded 4 more birdies and shot 62. He became the third player this week, after Sam Burns and Lucas Herbert, to fire a round of 8-under par.

He began the final round 2-shots behind Burns. The American international had suffered a heartbreaking loss at the U.S. Open last month. He lost by 1-shot after his birdie putt on the final hole went agonizingly wide.

So he was looking for redemption on Sunday. The two golfers were the final pair on Sunday. Earlier, Cameron Young had fired a score of 64 and was the clubhouse leader at 9-under par.

At one stage, South Korean Kim Si-woo led the tournament at 10-under par. However, 4 bogeys on the back nine derailed his chances of capturing his first major title.

In the end, it was a battle between Fox, Burns and Young. 3 successive bogeys on Holes 4, 5 and 6 put Burns off the lead. Despite his best efforts, he was not able to make any birdie from there on and recorded 12 straight pars.

As for Fox, he was even par after the first nine holes following one birdie and one bogey. On the back nine, he made a bogey on the 11th, but bounced back with successive bogeys on the 13th and 14th.

It was at the 15th hole where he ran into a bit of trouble. His ball would land in the bunker in an awkward position. He kept his cool and smoothly navigated the bunker for a bogey.

With a birdie on the 16th and a par on the 17th, he needed a birdie to win and a par to take the tournament into a playoff round. As Young prepared himself for some possible extra golf, Fox drained a 12-foot birdie to win the event on the final shot and clinch his 1st major triumph.

For Fox, this was just his 3rd victory on the PGA Tour. He also becomes just the 2nd golfer from New Zealand to win The Open Championship after Sir Bob Charles won the tournament in 1963 at the Royal Lytham and St. Annes.

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Ryan Fox fulfills his children’s wish following emotional victory

When the week started, very few would have imagined Ryan Fox to come out as the winner of The Open Championship. Following a slow start, the 39-year-old shot an incredible 62 on Saturday and completed the comeback on the final hole of the tournament to win the event.

Ryan Fox
Ryan Fox (Image via X/@TheOpen)

After the 3rd round, Fox spoke with his family. During this, his children urged him to bring back a trophy. He fulfilled their wish with a 2-under-par performance on Sunday.

Following his conversation with them in the clubhouse, the golfer addressed this during the medal ceremony. He joked that the Claret Jug was a cool trophy to bring home.

I spoke to my kids last night and they said “bring back a trophy”. I think this is a pretty cool one to bring back for them.

Ryan Fox said

The major season has now come to an end. There were 2 first-time majors in Fox and Aaron Rai at the PGA Championship. Wyndham Clark claimed his 2nd major title with a 2nd U.S. Open win while Rory McIlroy successfully defended the Masters Tournament title at Augusta National.

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