As chaos unfolded on a sun-baked Sunday at the 154th Open Championship, Ryan Fox stood on the 18th tee and made a decision that would define his career. The 39-year-old New Zealander, a 100-1 outsider at the start of the tournament, had the honour with the Claret Jug on the line. He turned to his caddie, Dean, and said: “We were going to take it on, that I was going to try to win the tournament, and I'd live with the consequences if I stuffed it up.”
He did not stuff it up. Fox launched a 330-yard drive down the middle of the fairway, then hit an approach shot of “one of his career” from 175 yards into the heart of the green. The long par-four had yielded only four birdies all day, but Fox calmly stepped up and converted the biggest putt of his life from 11 feet. He shot a two-under 68 to finish at 10 under par, one ahead of American Cameron Young, who had been waiting in the clubhouse for two-and-a-half hours.
“Ryan Fox birdies final hole to win The Open, his first major, by one stroke over Cameron Young.”
“I didn't feel anything for the putt - everything was shaking that much,” Fox said. “It's not a very comfortable feeling. It's certainly very enjoyable when you see it go in.”
It took just 22 seconds from playing partner Sam Burns taking his ball out of the hole to Fox stepping up to hit his putt – a blink in a sport often criticised for slow play. Fox, one of the fastest players on tour, kept that rhythm even with the biggest moment of his life at stake.
Fox’s victory adds another chapter to a family of extraordinary sporting stock. His father, Grant Fox, was an All Black legend who won the 1987 Rugby World Cup and was once New Zealand’s record points scorer. His grandfather, Merv Wallace, captained and coached the New Zealand cricket team. “We've got a great history in our family,” Fox said. “I don't know if this tops their achievements, but it's certainly right up there. I guess there's no pressure on my kids going forward now.”
For the English fans, the dream of a home victor faded as Tommy Fleetwood and others fell away. But on this dramatic Sunday, Ryan Fox – brave, cool and decisive – claimed his first major title in the oldest tournament of all. The question now: can a man who played so fast, under such pressure, do it again?