Fox, 39, shot the lowest final 36 holes in Open history to become the third New Zealeander to win a men’s major
Ryan Fox is the 2026 Champion Golfer of the Year. Following a spectacular display of golf over the weekend at The Open Championship, Fox became the third man from New Zealand to claim a major title, picking up the biggest victory of his career at 39 years old after registering the lowest score over the final 36 holes in Open history.
Fox shot a final-round 68 to finish 10 under, beating Cameron Young by one shot after Young’s 64 stood as the clubhouse lead all the way until the final putt of the tournament.
The longtime professional, who had not won on the PGA Tour until last year, saved his best for last, making just the fifth birdie of the day on the difficult 18th hole. After a long wait on the tee box, he rifled a 330-yard drive down the middle of the fairway, threading between the bunkers to leave 175 yards in for his second. After another wait for the green to clear, the appropriately fast-moving Fox stepped in and fired a dart at the flag, leaving himself just inside 12 feet for the win.
On a day when few putts of consequence seemed to drop for anyone, Fox stepped up and confidently poured it in for his first major victory.
Fox snuck just inside the cut line at even par after the first two rounds of play, entering the weekend tied for 52nd. His 36-hole comeback is the largest by position to win a men’s major. An 8-under 62 on Saturday made him the third player this week to tie the men’s major record for lowest score in a round, thrusting him into the final pairing on Sunday alongside 54-hole leader Sam Burns.
With some serious contenders like Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Young lurking just behind him, Fox was not heavily discussed as a potential winner entering the final round, but as the day wore on and those more popular names faded in increasingly tough conditions, the Kiwi stood tall.
Fox looked like he might join those who wilted under the pressure after slipping back to 7 under with a bogey on the 11th, but he showed his resilience with birdies on the 13th and 14th holes to claim a share of the lead heading to the tough 15th. There he got the kind of break that tends to ruin championships, bouncing to the back edge of the bunker and having to pitch out backward; however, he was able to grind out a bogey to stay attached to the top.
A bounce-back birdie on the 16th put him back into a tie for the lead, setting the stage for his sensational closing birdie to create an iconic moment in Open Championship history.