Ryan Fox Ends New Zealand’s 63-Year Wait for an Open Champion

Ryan Fox rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole Sunday to win the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, becoming the first golfer from New Zealand to lift the Claret Jug in 63 years. The 39-year-old closed with four birdies across his last six holes, beating American Cameron Young by a single stroke to finish 10 under par.

The last Kiwi to hold this trophy was Bob Charles, who won at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 1963. Fox’s breakthrough ends one of golf’s longest national droughts and caps twelve years of grinding across three continents before he ever seriously contended in a major.

Four Birdies in Six Holes Complete a Wild Final Round

Fox started the day four shots off Sam Burns’ lead, but the round that put him there is one of the best in major championship history. His third round 62 on Saturday matched the lowest score ever recorded in a men’s major, one of three rounds of 62 posted during the week at Royal Birkdale.

He had opened with rounds of 72 and 68, barely surviving the 36 hole cut at even par. The 62 launched him from the middle of the pack straight into the final group.

Sunday brought a bogey at the par 3 15th that briefly threatened to end the run. Fox answered with a birdie at 16, a par at 17, and then the winning putt at 18 after a nervy tee shot found a bunker.

Cameron Young made him work for it. The American carded a final round 64 to post 9 under and then waited in the clubhouse for more than two hours as the rest of the field tried, and mostly failed, to catch him.

• 63 years since Bob Charles became the only Kiwi to win the Claret Jug, before Fox matched him
• Four birdies carded by Fox across his last six holes on Sunday to complete the comeback
• 19 professional wins worldwide for Fox before Sunday, without a single major among them
• 62, Fox’s third round score at Royal Birkdale, matching the lowest round in men’s major championship history

Fox’s own reaction, relayed to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis afterward, was that he played the 18th to win outright rather than to force a playoff, a fearless call that paid off by a single putt.

Has a New Zealand Golfer Ever Won the Open Before?

Yes, once. Bob Charles won the Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 1963, beating American Phil Rodgers in a 36 hole playoff to become both the first New Zealander and the first left hander to win a men’s major. Sixty three years later, Fox is only the second Kiwi to lift the Claret Jug.

Charles described that week with typical understatement. “The putter was working,” he told the R&A years later, recalling a playoff in which he needed just 56 putts across two playoff rounds to beat Rodgers by eight strokes.

The 1963 championship had its own share of drama. Jack Nicklaus, playing in just his second Open, made a closing bogey that left him one stroke outside the playoff, five clear of fourth place.

Both wins turned on the putter more than the driver, a detail that would have felt familiar to Charles, who collected silverware in 79 other tournaments during his career but treasured Lytham above them all.

Cameron Young’s Second Open Runner-Up Finish

For Cameron Young, Sunday’s finish was painfully familiar. The 2022 Open runner-up finished second again, this time by a single stroke, despite playing one of the best rounds of the week.

He had shown that kind of composure before. Young came from four strokes back to win the Players Championship earlier this year, and he did it again on Saturday, recovering from a back nine 40 to card a final round 64 that briefly looked like it would be enough.

It was not. Fox’s finish left Young stranded in the clubhouse, watching a leaderboard he could no longer influence.

Burns, Scheffler and Fleetwood All Fall Short

Sam Burns had barely expected to be at Royal Birkdale at all. He and his wife had recently welcomed a daughter, Belle, and he arrived at the championship unsure whether the trip was worth leaving a newborn behind.

It nearly paid off anyway. Burns carried a two shot overnight lead into Sunday after rounds of 62 and 65, but three straight bogeys from the fourth hole knocked him back, and a lengthy birdie try on the final green that would have forced a playoff slid past the cup. He finished alone in third at 8 under.

Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion and reigning Olympic gold medalist from the Paris 2024 Games, never let go of the tournament until the final hole. He needed an eagle on the par 4 18th to force a playoff and made a bogey instead, finishing tied for fourth at 7 under.

Tommy Fleetwood, born in Southport a few miles from Royal Birkdale’s gates, gave the home crowd an early jolt with a 73 foot birdie putt on his first hole of the day. Three straight bogeys from the ninth through the eleventh ended the charge, and he finished level with Scheffler.

• 1. Ryan Fox, New Zealand: 10 under par, 270, Champion Golfer of the Year
• 2. Cameron Young, United States: 9 under par, 271
• 3. Sam Burns, United States: 8 under par, 272
• 4 (tie). Scottie Scheffler, United States: 7 under par, 273
• 4 (tie). Tommy Fleetwood, England: 7 under par, 273

Fox News described the week bluntly as “the roughest major championship season for American golf in 12 years,” a line that will sting more in the United States than it will in Auckland.

The Twelve-Year Climb From Journeyman to Major Champion

Fox turned professional in 2012 at 25, choosing golf over a family sport that had already produced an All Blacks legend. His father, Grant Fox, was the All Blacks’ first five-eighth on the side that won the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 and later worked as a national selector for the 2011 and 2015 World Cup winning squads.

Ryan Fox worked his way through the Australasian and Challenge Tours before earning his European Tour card in 2016. He claimed his first DP World Tour title in 2019 at the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth, but for years afterward the biggest trophies kept slipping away.

According to his official Open Championship player profile, Russell Knox forced sudden death at the 2018 Irish Open with a 40 foot putt and then repeated the shot to win outright. Four years later, Victor Perez did something similar at the Dutch Open, holing a 40 footer of his own to survive extra holes.

The pattern finally broke in September 2023. Fox won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the DP World Tour’s flagship event, beating Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai with a birdie on the final hole.

His first PGA Tour win followed in 2025 at the Myrtle Beach Classic, sealed with a chip in during a playoff. He added the RBC Canadian Open a few weeks later, beating Sam Burns in extra holes with what he called the best shot of his career.

What Fox’s Win Is Worth Now

The victory is worth $3.2 million and 750 FedExCup points, according to prize money breakdowns published after the round, a payday that surpasses the check Scottie Scheffler collected for winning in 2025. It extends a hot streak that already included two PGA Tour victories earned in 2025.

Fox capped the night by FaceTiming his family, who were in Florida during the win.

My wife and kids are in Florida at the moment. I spoke to my kids last night.

Ryan Fox, speaking to reporters at Royal Birkdale, added that his children had asked him for one thing before the final round: to bring home a trophy. He did exactly that, the Claret Jug still catching the evening light behind him as the celebrations moved toward the clubhouse.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is This Ryan Fox’s First Major Championship Win?

Yes. Fox had never won one of golf’s four men’s majors before Sunday, despite nineteen professional wins worldwide. He first played the Open in 2015 after coming through final qualifying, finishing tied for 49th, and spent the following decade climbing from the Challenge Tour to the world’s top 25 before this breakthrough.

How Many New Zealanders Have Won Men’s Major Golf Championships?

Fox is the third. Bob Charles won the 1963 Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes, and Michael Campbell won the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst. Fox’s win makes him only the second New Zealander, after Charles, to lift the Claret Jug specifically.

Who Else Contended for the Claret Jug on Sunday?

South Korea’s Si Woo Kim briefly held the outright lead at 10 under during the final round, chasing what would have been the first Open win by an Asian born golfer, before bogeys on the back nine dropped him away from the top of the leaderboard.

What Is Ryan Fox’s Family Connection to Other Sports?

Beyond his father, All Blacks fly-half Grant Fox, Ryan Fox’s grandfather Merv Wallace played 13 Test matches for New Zealand’s cricket team between the 1930s and 1950s, making sporting achievement a three generation family trait.