Cameron Young shot 64 on Sunday at Royal Birkdale, and then he waited. And waited. And waited some more. He started the day seven back but now held the clubhouse lead, although surely the hole he started in was simply too big a deficit to overcome and win the Open Championship, right?
But the longer he waited — it became over two hours — the longer it seemed like a possibility he would hoist the Claret Jug.
And then Ryan Fox ruined his parade.
The 39-year-old New Zealander, ranked 56th in the World, birdied two of his last three holes, including the par-4 18th, to clip Young by one and claim the biggest title of his career.
It’s the first major title for Fox, who before Sunday had never even recorded a major top 10 in his 28 previous starts. He’s won all over the world and on several tours, and his biggest victory came at the BMW PGA Championship, the flagship event of the DP World Tour, back in 2023. Last year he won the PGA Tour’s Myrtle Beach event and the RBC Canadian Open.
At the Open, Fox jumped into contention with a 62 on Saturday and earned a spot in the final pairing with 54-hole leader Sam Burns on Sunday. Fox was one over through 12 holes on Sunday, but he birdied four of his last six to shoot a two-under 68. He made a 12-footer for birdie on the 18th, which pushed him to 10 under and stole the title from Young, who held the clubhouse lead for several hours at nine under.
Even before the first balls went into the air on Sunday, it was an eventful few days on the northwest coast of England.
Three players — Lucas Herbert and Burns on Friday, and Fox on Saturday — shot 62, tying the major championship record.
And then there was Bryson DeChambeau, who injected a considerable amount of drama into golf’s oldest major when he was embroiled in a rules controversy on Friday night. DeChambeau put the tournament (and third-round tee times) on hold when he disputed what later would become a two-stroke penalty for inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing on his second shot on the 5th hole. Afterward, he hit balls well into the night on Royal Birkdale’s range, a bizarre scene in which more than a dozen reporters watched and waited to see if he would answer questions when he was through. (He did not.)
Several players were asked about the controversial penalty and most tiptoed the sensitive topic, although Rory McIlroy had no issue expressing his opinion. He said he believed there was “no doubt” DeChambeau improved the line of his backswing and called the penalty justified. (“I won’t pretend to be up here and defend Bryson,” McIlroy said. “I’m not particularly fond of him.”)
On Sunday, the focus was solely on the golf.
Burns started at 10 under and with a two-shot lead, although he’d been just 1 for 5 in converting 54-hole lead or co-leads in his career. Fox and Si Woo Kim both stood at eight under, with Ryan Gerard and Herbert at seven under. Other stars lurked too: Ludvig Aberg and DeChambeau six under, Tommy Fleetwood five under, and Scottie Scheffler four under.
Burns’ lead was still two when he teed off in the final pairing, but the leaderboard was shaken up quickly.
Young started his day with five straight 3s — good for four birdies — and shot 64 to post nine under, despite an 18th-hole bogey, to take the clubhouse lead. Burns birdied the 2nd hole but went bogey-bogey-bogey on Nos. 4-6. Meanwhile, other marquee names started to fade. Fleetwood, the hometown favorite, made bogeys on 9, 10 and 11. DeChambeau made a triple-bogey 7 on the 11th.
Scheffler, who struck the ball beautifully all week but battled a cold putter, got off to a good start but made bogeys on 13 and 15, only to birdie 16 and 17 and give himself a chance to tie Young’s lead. Ultimately, he bogeyed 18 and shot 67 to finish seven under and in a tie with Fleetwood for fourth.
As the day wore on, everyone was still chasing Young, who had to start feeling better about where he stood at nine under.
Burns, Kim and Fox were all eight under with five to play, but Fox went birdie-bogey-birdie on Nos. 14-16 to tie Young at nine under with two to play. After narrowly missing his birdie try on 17, Fox went to the 18th hole needing birdie to win and a par to force a playoff. He found the fairway and then the green, and after Burns missed his birdie putt, the stage belonged to Fox.
