A wild week at Royal Birkdale ended with a walk-off birdie putt by Ryan Fox.
The 39-year-old New Zealander claimed his first major in clutch fashion by winning the Open Championship thanks to a birdie on the 72nd hole to defeat Cameron Young by one shot. Have a look:
Fox told NBC’s Mike Tirico after that he “couldn’t feel” his hands for the final stroke. “I was just trying to get it up there near the hole, looked pretty straight, and thankfully, it dove in that left edge,” Fox said. “It’s crazy. I don’t really know what to think. I don’t know how I managed to keep the putter face square enough for that to go on line, but I’ll take it.”
Fox made back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14 to pull even with Young, who had finished off a Sunday 64 much earlier. But a bad break on 15 and a bogey looked like it might derail the man who won twice on the PGA Tour last year.
Instead, he responded with a birdie on No.16. Then after another bad break off the tee on 17 and a disappointing par on the par 5, he made a rare birdie on No.18 after hitting a pair of perfect shots under the utmost pressure.
