Ryan Fox denies Cameron Young, Sam Burns at The Open Championship as American golf takes another hit

Ryan Fox failed to birdie the easiest hole at Royal Birkdale while trying to win The Open Championship. But, when it mattered most, he birdied the hardest hole on the course to capture the Claret Jug.

Tied with clubhouse leader Cameron Young at 9-under, the 39-year-old New Zealander needed a birdie on No. 18 to win the tournament after failing to birdie the par-5 17th hole.

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After pounding his drive down the final fairway, Fox hit his approach to just inside 12 feet and then dripped his birdie putt into the edge of the cup to win the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. He finished at 10-under, one shot ahead of Young and two clear of 54-hole leader Sam Burns.

But his win might mean more for international golf than anything else.

Entering the final round, everyone at Royal Birkdale was chasing American Sam Burns, who was searching for his first major championship victory.

Burns, at 10-under, led Fox and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim by two shots. American Ryan Gerard and Australian Lucas Herbert were three shots back, while big names like Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Åberg sat several shots back but were lurking.

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Burns earned that advantage with one of the best two-round stretches in major championship history.

After opening the tournament with a three-over 73, Burns tied the men’s major record with an eight-under 62 on Friday. He followed that with a five-under 65 in the third round, giving him a 127 total over 36 holes, the lowest score across consecutive rounds in men’s major championship history.

And Burns wasn’t alone in going historically low.

Herbert also shot 62 on Friday, while Fox matched the number on Saturday to rocket 50 spots up the leaderboard and earn a spot alongside Burns in Sunday’s final pairing. Three players had tied the major championship scoring record over a span of two days at Royal Birkdale.

Burns also knew better than most how quickly a promising major-championship Sunday could turn into heartbreak.

He held the 54-hole lead at the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont before shooting a final-round 78 and falling into a tie for seventh. One year later, Burns nearly completed a furious Sunday comeback at Shinnecock Hills, but his birdie putt on the 72nd hole stopped inches short and left him one shot behind eventual champion Wyndham Clark.

Now, Burns had another opportunity.

And he initially appeared ready to take control of the tournament.

The 29-year-old American birdied the second hole to reach 11-under and extend his advantage.

Then everything changed.

Burns made three consecutive bogeys at Nos. 4, 5 and 6, coughing up his entire lead in a span of three holes. The player who began Sunday with a two-shot lead suddenly found himself scrambling to remain in contention.

And while Burns stumbled, another American came charging from the middle of the pack.

Cam Young, like Burns, was already familiar with major championship heartbreak. He finished one shot behind Cameron Smith at the 2022 Open Championship despite shooting a final-round 65 and making eagle on the 72nd hole.

Young began the final round seven shots off the lead, seemingly out of contention, but immediately turned himself into a factor with a spectacular front-nine 29. He made four birdies over his first five holes and eventually reached 10-under with another birdie at the 17th.

Then came trouble.

Young drove into a fairway bunker on the final hole and failed to clear its steep face with his second shot. He eventually escaped with a bogey, but still posted an incredible six-under 64 to take the clubhouse lead at nine-under.

But then Ryan Fox came charging.

Fox birdied the 13th and 14th holes to catch Young at nine-under. The New Zealander caught a terrible break with his tee shot at the newly redesigned par-3 15th and couldn’t save par. However, he bounced right back with a birdie at No. 16 to tie Young again.

Young found himself in the unenviable position of sitting around and just waiting to see if his score was good enough.

Fox caught another bad break on the par-5 17th hole. He elected to hit an iron off the tee to avoid the fairway bunkers, but his ball managed to creep into one of those bunkers after rolling out to over 320 yards. He still managed to give himself a good birdie look, but missed to stay tied.

Burns also failed to make birdie on No. 17, the hole that played the easiest during Sunday’s final round. That meant that Fox was tied with Young and Burns was one shot back with the hardest hole on the course, the par-4 18th, looming.

Fox made it look anything but difficult, blasting his tee shot down the middle of the fairway before sticking an iron to inside 12 feet and giving himself a birdie putt to win the Open.

Burns played the hole well, too, but not well enough. His approach came to rest just inside 30 feet from the cup and the American couldn’t convert, adding another close call to his major championship résumé.

That set the stage for Fox. Make the putt, win The Open. Miss and go to a playoff against Cam Young.

And he buried it to deliver another heartbreak for Young and another heartbreak to American golf.

Because Sunday’s final round was about much more than whether Burns, Young or another contender would walk away with the Claret Jug.

It was also about whether American golf had truly started to take back control of the sport.

Not long ago, that control appeared absolute.

Beginning with Brooks Koepka’s victory at the 2023 PGA Championship, Americans won seven consecutive men’s majors. Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau all followed Koepka during a run that ended with Schauffele completing an American sweep of the 2024 majors at Royal Troon.

Rory McIlroy finally ended the streak with his dramatic breakthrough at the 2025 Masters.

Even then, it hardly felt like the balance of power had changed.

Scheffler won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. J.J. Spaun captured the U.S. Open at Oakmont. Scheffler then dominated The Open at Royal Portrush.

Americans had won 10 of 11 major championships.

It wasn’t a rivalry at that point. It was domination.

Then the tide turned.

Tommy Fleetwood finally earned his first PGA Tour victory by winning the 2025 Tour Championship and FedEx Cup.

One month later, Europe embarrassed the United States on American soil at the Ryder Cup.

The final score, 15-13, made the competition appear far closer than it actually was. Europe entered Sunday singles with an 11½-4½ advantage and had already reduced the final session to little more than a desperate American attempt to avoid complete humiliation.

Things didn’t improve when the calendar flipped to 2026.

McIlroy successfully defended his Masters title, and England’s Aaron Rai followed with his first major championship victory at the PGA Championship. European golfers had won the first two majors of the year.

Wyndham Clark finally stopped the bleeding by winning his second U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

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An American victory at Royal Birkdale would give U.S. golfers the final two major championships of the season and provide real evidence that the momentum had begun shifting back.

A non-American victory would leave Clark as the only U.S. major champion of 2026, marking the first time since 2014 that Americans won just one of the four men’s majors.

And the latter is what happened when Ryan Fox became just the second New Zealander to win The Open and the third New Zealander to win a men’s major golf championship.

Clark’s U.S. Open victory stands as the only American major championship win of the season, the first time since 2014 that American men failed to win at least two major tournaments.

Europe embarrassed the United States at Bethpage. Fleetwood took the FedEx Cup. European players captured the Masters and PGA Championship. And a non-American ended the season by lifting the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale.

It added up to the roughest major championship season for American golf in 12 years.

And the next Ryder Cup is being played at Adare Manor in Ireland, where the United States will attempt to win on European soil for the first time since 1993.

Based on the past year, there’s little reason to believe that drought is about to end.