Ryan Fox captures The Open as American contenders fall short again

Ryan Fox failed to birdie the easiest hole at Royal Birkdale while trying to win the Open Championship. But he birdied the toughest hole on the course to capture the Claret Jug when it mattered most.

Tied with clubhouse leader Cameron Young at 9-under, the 39-year-old New Zealander needed a birdie at the 18th to win the tournament after failing to birdie the par-5 17th hole.

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After hitting his shot down the final fairway, Fox closed to just shy of 12 feet and then dribbled his birdie putt into the rim of the cup to win the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. He finished 10 points behind, one shot ahead of Young and two shots ahead of 54-hole leader Sam Burns.

But his win may be more important than anything else for international golf.

Heading into the final round, everyone at Royal Birkdale was on American Sam Burns, who was looking for his first major championship victory.

Burns led by 10 points, two shots over Fox and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim. American Ryan Gerard and Australian Lucas Herbert were three shots behind, while big names like Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Åberg were lurking, albeit a few shots behind.

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Burns earned that advantage with one of the best two-round overtimes in major championship history.

After opening the tournament with a score of over 73, Burns tied the men’s record with a score of over 62 on Friday. He followed this with a score of under 65 in the third round and achieved a total of 127 points in 36 holes, the lowest consecutive score in the history of the men’s major championship.

And Burns wasn’t the only one in historical decline.

Herbert also shot 62 on Friday, while Fox hit that number on Saturday, moving up 50 spots on the leaderboard and joining Burns in Sunday’s final matchup. Three players equaled the major championship scoring record over a two-day period at Royal Birkdale.

Burns also knew better than most Sunday how quickly a promising major championship could turn into heartbreak.

Sam Burns came close again but fell short in another major championship. (David Davies/PA Images)

He held the 54-hole lead at the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont and then shot a final-round 78 to move into a tie for seventh. A year later, Burns nearly completed his furious comeback at Shinnecock Hills on Sunday, but his birdie putt on the 72nd hole stalled within inches and left him one shot behind eventual champion Wyndham Clark.

Now Burns had another opportunity.

He initially looked poised to take control of the tournament.

The 29-year-old American birdied the second hole to reach 11-under and expand his advantage.

Then everything changed.

Burns made three consecutive bogeys on Nos. 4, 5 and 6 and coughed up his entire lead in a three-hole span. Having started Sunday with a two-stroke lead, he suddenly found himself struggling to stay in contention.

As Burns stumbled, another American charged through the middle of the group.

Like Burns, Cam Young already knew about major championship heartbreak. Despite shooting 65 in the final round at the 2022 Open Championship and making eagle on the 72nd hole, he finished one shot behind Cameron Smith.

Young started the final round seven shots ahead, seemingly out of contention, but immediately turned himself into a factor with a superb front-nine 29. He made four birdies in his first five holes and eventually made another birdie on the 17th to reach 10-under.

Then trouble arose.

Young walked into a fairway bunker on the final hole and failed to clear the steep on his second shot. He eventually escaped with a bogey, but still scored an incredible 64 to take the lead in the nine-under clubhouse.

But then Ryan Fox went on the offensive.

Fox birdied the 13th and 14th holes to catch Young at nine under. The New Zealander had a terrible run on the redesigned par-3 15th and was unable to save par. But he came right back with a birdie on No. 16 to bring Young back into par.

Young found himself in the unenviable position of sitting around and waiting to see if his score was good enough.

Cameron Young and caddy Kyle Sterbinsky watch the final round of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. (Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR)

Fox had another poor run at the par-5 17th hole. He opted to hit an iron from the tee to avoid the fairway bunkers, but was able to get into one of those bunkers after moving the ball to 320 yards. He still managed to get a nice bird’s eye view of himself, but he missed staying connected.

Burns also failed to make birdie on No. 17, the easiest hole to play in Sunday’s final round. This meant Fox was tied with Young and Burns came back with a shot at the toughest hole on the course, the par-4 18th.

Fox made it look no mean feat by tossing his tee shot into the middle of the fairway, then nailing an iron to the inside 12 feet and scoring himself a birdie putt to win the Open.

Burns also played the hole well, but not well enough. His approach fell just 30 meters from the cup and the American was unable to convert, adding another close call to his major championship resume.

This set the stage for Fox. Make the putt, win the Open. Miss and you’re in the playoffs against Cam Young.

And he buried it to give Young another heartbreak and American golf another heartbreak.

Because Sunday’s final round was about much more than whether Burns, Young or another contender would take away the Claret Jug.

It was also about whether American golf was truly starting to take back control of the sport.

Until recently, this control seemed absolute.

Starting with Brooks Koepka’s victory at the 2023 PGA Championship, the Americans have won seven straight men’s titles. Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau followed Koepka during the run, which ended with Schauffele completing America’s 2024 major at Royal Troon.

Rory McIlroy finally ended his winning streak with his dramatic breakthrough at the 2025 Masters.

Even then I didn’t really feel like the balance of power was changing.

Scheffler won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. JJ Spaun won the US Open at Oakmont. Scheffler then dominated The Open at Royal Portrush.

The Americans had won 10 of the 11 major championships.

It wasn’t a competition then. This was dominance.

Then the situation was reversed.

Tommy Fleetwood finally earned his first PGA Tour victory by winning the 2025 Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.

A month later, Europe embarrassed the United States in the Ryder Cup on American soil.

The final score of 15-13 made the contest seem much closer than it actually was. Europe entered Sunday’s singles with an 11½-4½ advantage, reducing the final session to little more than a desperate attempt by America to avoid complete humiliation.

European players celebrate after winning the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Things didn’t get better when the calendar flipped to 2026.

McIlroy successfully defended his Masters title and England’s Aaron Rai claimed his first major championship victory at the PGA Championship. European golfers had won the first two major tournaments of the year.

Wyndham Clark finally stopped the bleeding by winning his second U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

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An American victory at Royal Birkdale would give U.S. golfers the final two major championships of the season and provide real evidence that the momentum was starting to return.

A non-American victory would leave Clark as the sole U.S. major champion for 2026, marking the first time since 2014 that Americans won just one of the four men’s majors.

Ryan Fox became the second New Zealander to win The Open and the third New Zealander to win the men’s major golf championship.

Clark’s US Open victory stands as the only American major championship victory of the season; For the first time since 2014, the American men failed to win at least two major tournaments.

Europe embarrassed the United States at Bethpage. Fleetwood won the FedEx Cup. European players have won the Masters and PGA Championship. And a non-American ended the season by lifting the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale.

This made for the toughest major championship season in American golf in 12 years.

And the next Ryder Cup will be played at Adare Manor in Ireland, where the United States will attempt to win on European soil for the first time since 1993.

Looking at the past year, there is little reason to believe the drought will end.