2026 Open Championship final round recap: Ryan Fox wins Claret Jug for first major title

Ryan Fox wastes no time hitting shots, whether off the tee, in the fairway, or putting to win his first major title. It’s a breathe of fresh air amid all the slow play that plagues tournaments nowadays.

Fox’s first call is to his wife, Anneke, and their two daughters. You can hear the girls asking dad a lot of questions, as is expected. He told them he’ll be on TV soon. Second call is to dad.

Ryan Fox is 39 years old. This is his first major title.

He was bolstered by a 62 on Saturday, tying for the lowest round in major history. Three bogeys threatened to derail Fox in the final round, but he made two birdies in the final three holes to edge Cameron Young by 1 stroke.

Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns also carded 62s this week.

Fox is only the second player to shoot a 62 and win a major, joining Xander Schauffele, who did so at the 2024 PGA.

The last men’s major champion from New Zealand was Michael Campbell at the 2005 U.S. Open. Before that, and the only Kiwi Open winner, was Bob Charles in 1963.

Charles is now 90 and hoisted the Claret Jug at nearby Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Fox wastes NO time. Steps up, beautiful putt that seemed perfectly straight, and it’s in.

A valiant effort from newly-minted dad of 2 Sam Burns, who came across the pond last minute after the early birth of his daughter. But he comes up short and is still looking for his first major title.

Ryan Fox hits a beauty for his second shot and has a chance to win it outright right here, right now.

Final pairing is running out of daylight, and Ryan Fox’s luck swings to the bad side again. He narrowly misses a birdie putt that would have made him the solo leader at 10 under. He’s still tied with Cameron Young after a par.

It’s been 2 hours since Cameron Young finished his round. He’s currently practicing in preparation for a potential playoff.

Of the half dozen players still on the course, they’ll need to match that 9 under mark to force extra holes. Or beat it.

After missing the cut in the first three majors of the year, Bryson DeChambeau will finish in the top 20 here, carding a 4 under overall.

New Zealander Ryan Fox is 1 under today and currently tied with Cameron Young at 9 under overall. He went birdie bogey birdie to get back to that 9 mark, but he’s in another bunker predicament at the 17th.

Southport native Tommy Fleetwood birdied the par-4 18th to a standing ovation as he finished his week at 7 under – just out of contention.

Fleetwood was a favorite coming into Birkdale. It hasn’t yet been determined when the major will return to the course, and at 35 years old, there’s a question of if he’ll play the next one.

Bittersweet to miss out on winning his first major title in front of a home crowd, but a valiant effort from Tommy.

Scheffler bogeys the 18th and finishes at 7 under overall, meaning there will officially be a new Champion Golfer of the Year.

Si Woo Kim has lost a share of the lead and is currently 8 under after back-to-back bogeys. He’s heading to 13, but these last few holes have proven a challenge for much of the field.

Scottie Scheffler was livid after his tee shot on the par-5 17th. He went for a gutsy second shot out of a bunker and found himself in potential trouble and hitting a provisional, but he ended up with the biggest break of the day and gets relief from a temporary structure. Hit a beaut on the ensuing third shot and makes the fourth for a birdie.

Scheffler has gone birdie-birdie to move to 8 under and within 1 of the lead. He is heading to the par-4 18th – one of the toughest holes today.

Bryson DeChambeau is now 2 under and T-29 after a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 11th. Similar to Scheffler, DeChambeau had to hit a provisional on that hole and the whole thing unraveled.

Scheffler is in a bunker – over 200 yards from the par-5 17th hole – and at one point had driver out, but he opts for a 3 wood. He hits it blind and pulls it wayyyy left behind a building closer to the 18th. He hits a provisional because that ball could very well be lost. Basically the same approach for the provisional, but it gets closer to the 17th green.

Scottie Scheffler birdied the par-4 16th to get to back to 7 under and really needs birdies (or better) on the par-5 17th and par-4 18th.

His ensuing drive on No. 17 missed the fairway, which he was trying to hit, and he immediately yelled, “Why!? WHY!? How does that happen!?” And went on to talk about the ball bouncing only once.

The hometown guy, Tommy Fleetwood, just scored his third straight bogey to drop to 5 under. He’s heading to 12.

Young ran into trouble on the par-4 18th, landing in a bunker and then being unable to clear the bunker fully on the ensuing shot, causing it to land in the fescue nearby. The next shot he landed in another bunker before he made an up-and-down for bogey and to get in the clubhouse at 9 under overall with a 6-under 64 today.

Sam Burns bogeys for the third straight thole, this time at the par-4 sixth, to drop to 8 under.

Meanwhile, Cameron Young birdied the 17th to tie Si Woo Kim at 10 under. He heads to the 18th where there hasn’t been a birdie all day.

Sam Burns is now 9 under at bogeys on both the par-3 fourth and par-4 fifth. Si Woo Kim has taken the lead at 10 under after back-to-back birdies.

Ryan Fox and Cameron Young are tied with Burns at 9 under.

Tommy Fleetwood and Scottie Scheffler are only two back of them at 7 under.

And then there’s Bryson DeChambeau at 6 under.

Leaders have 13 to go.

Both Sam Burns and Tommy Fleetwood have birdied early, getting to 11 under and 9 under, respectively.

Tommy Fleetwood also made an 80-foot putt to get to 7 under.

Cameron Young is 4 under thru 7 and 7 under overall.

Russell Henley is 5 under thru 12 and 6 under overall.

Scottie Scheffler is 2 under thru 4 and also 6 under overall.

Three holes, three birdies for Cam Young, who is now at 6 under. Can he pull together an early final round miracle?

All 10 previous Open champions at Royal Birkdale were in the top 2 of the leaderboard entering the final round.

Thomas Detry and Matthew Southgate both carded birdies from the bunker early at Birkdale.

Here’s the full list of Round 4 tee times and featured groups.

The leaders, Sam Burns and Ryan Fox, will tee off at 9:20 a.m. ET.

Here’s how to watch the final round of the Open:

• 4-7 a.m. — USA Network
• 7 a.m. - 2 p.m. — NBC/Peacock