Ryan Fox Claims Open Championship With Clutch Birdie At 18
With the leaders headed to the back nine, only five of the final 26 players on the course at Royal Birkdale were under par. The course proved to be the players' toughest opponent.
"I felt like there was always a chance," Cameron Young said. "I have no idea how it will stand. I could win, or I could end up losing by four. I am disappointed by the one I gave back on 18, but I'm happy with how I played."
Young posted the round of the day, shooting a 6-under 64 to set the clubhouse lead at 9 under par. His front nine was blazing, with three consecutive birdies to open the round and a score of 29 on the outward nine. Young made a bogey on the final hole, leaving him one shot behind the leader still on the course. The effort could mark the second-largest comeback in Open Championship history.
"There is a realistic chance for six guys to win this," announcer Dan Hicks said during NBC's broadcast.
Ryan Fox tied Young for the clubhouse lead on the 15th hole with back-to-back birdies. His tee shot on the par-3 16th found the greenside bunker and nearly lodged itself under the lip. Forced to play out backward, Fox made a bogey. Undeterred, he birdied the next hole to pull back into a tie for the lead.
Standing on the 18th tee tied with Young, Fox had his ball teed up and was ready to play before the group ahead had cleared the fairway. He unleashed one of the longest drives of the day down the center.
Needing birdie to win the Open Championship outright, Fox faced an 11-foot, 7-inch putt. As the ball took its final rotation and dropped into the cup, Fox raised his hands in celebration, securing the 2026 Open Championship.
It was only the fifth birdie recorded on the hole during the final round. Fox also matched the record for the lowest score over the final 36 holes in Open Championship history.
“The golf course was fantastic, the English weather was fantastic and you were fantastic,” Fox said during his post round speech.
Third-round leader Sam Burns fell victim to the course. At the turn in the final round, he was 2 over par after making three consecutive bogeys on holes 4, 5 and 6. He followed with 13 consecutive pars but never regained momentum, finishing in third place.
"I got off to a tough start and made a couple of mistakes early," Burns said during his post-round interview on NBC. "Ultimately, I came up a couple short."
Scottie Scheffler was 8 under par for the tournament through 13 holes when his drive found the fescue, forcing him to lay up on the par 4. He bogeyed the 15th before birdieing the 16th. On the 17th, his championship hopes nearly unraveled.
After debating between a driver off the deck and a 3-wood with caddie Ted Scott, Scheffler pulled his shot from a raised, sidehill lie into the stands left of the green.
Scheffler received relief and was moved from deep within the grandstand area to a trampled spectator walkway near the 17th hole. His wedge from 94 yards generated enough spin to hold the green, finishing 8 feet from the cup. He converted the birdie putt to move within one shot of the lead with one hole remaining.
On the 18th, Scheffler drove the ball well right of the fairway, and his approach came up short. His putt from about 10 yards off the green rolled several feet past the hole. He ultimately bogeyed the final hole to finish at 7 under par.
"It was a shot that, nine times out of 10, I would not hit, but I had to make something happen," Scheffler said. "I felt like I was up against it this week. I just couldn't make putts out there. Things didn't really go my way outside of getting relief at 17."
Si Woo Kim reached 10 under par through the front nine and held the lead, but Royal Birkdale struck back on the inward nine. Kim made back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 11 and 12 to fall out of the lead, which was then held by Young in the clubhouse. Two more bogeys dropped him three shots behind.
Bryson DeChambeau entered the final round after controversy in the second round, when he was penalized for improving both his lie and swing path in the high fescue. He remained at 6 under par until bogeys on No. 9 and a triple bogey on No. 11 derailed his round. His drive on the 11th found the left fescue, where he could barely advance the ball. His next shot flew long and right into a dune, where the ball remained unfound, resulting in a penalty. DeChambeau's roller-coaster week at the major effectively ended there, and he finished five shots behind the champion in 14th place.
Fox adds his name to the list of 2026 Major Championship winners: Rory McIlroy, Aaron Rai and Wyndham Clark.
Timothy is a founding member of Break80 Golf and a contributing golf and sports writer for Forbes with PGA Tour and LIV Golf media credentials. Timothy can be reached at [email protected] for inquiries or story leads.