Tuesday 21st July 00:59 ‘My brain works fast’: How Kiwi Fox raced to Open glory
New Open champion Ryan Fox credited a “fast brain” for his success after amazing everyone with the speed with which he closed out his first major.
The New Zealander has always had a reputation for pacy play, but there were just 22 seconds between playing partner Sam Burns’ putt dropping and the 39-year-old holing a 11-foot birdie.
Considering the magnitude of the putt, the watching crowd, used to professionals weighing up the line and slope from numerous angles, could scarcely believe how little fuss he made.
Ryan Fox needed just 22 seconds after Sam Burns’ putt to win The Open
“I was always that way as a kid. I see things fast,” said Fox, son of All Blacks great Grant, who was pictured on social media loading the case containing the Claret Jug into the overhead locker of the 6.55am British Airways flight from Manchester to Heathrow on Monday.
“I played almost every sport growing up. Everything just happened fast. I was never methodical at anything, to be honest, and it just carried over into golf.
“I would say just my brain works fast. It’s just always how I’ve seen it on the golf course.
“I need to make sure this comes across right (but) it’s not that difficult to pick a shot and pick a club. I get in there and it all happens quick.
“It’s always going to be between one or two clubs into a green and I just see the shot quickly, pick a shot quickly, and the less time I have to think about it, the less bad stuff can creep in there.
“If you tried to slow me down and make me do everything slowly, I think I’d be pretty useless to be honest.”
Speed of play remains a huge problem in the professional game, especially at majors, but surprisingly Fox streamlined his process with his caddie Dean Smith even more at Birkdale.
“We actually had less discussion on clubs so I could own it a little bit more. He probably was getting a few earfuls from me being in between clubs and taking it out on him,” Fox added.
“Talking with my sports psych Karl Morris, who was here earlier in the week, we chatted about (how) I’m better when I create a shot.
“Creating a shot is almost getting the data off Dean and then I make the decision on kind of everything else. Then I verbalise what I’m going to do to him.”
Monday 20th July 10:20am (AEST) The Fantastic Mr Fox and his debt to Aussie tour
by Ian Chadband
New Zealander Ryan Fox might just have topped the great achievements of his sporting family with his British Open triumph at Royal Birkdale.
Ryan Fox has hailed his British Open triumph as huge for New Zealand sport – and praised his education in Australian golf as a key factor in him becoming a late-blooming major champion at 39.
The hugely popular Aucklander continued his family’s great sporting heritage with his Open victory adding to the laurels earned by his father Grant Fox, the All Blacks’ Rugby World Cup-winning great, and his maternal grandfather Merv Wallace, who captained and coached the NZ cricket team.
“We’ve got a great history in our family, and the other great thing is I had no pressure on me to follow in any of their footsteps,” smiled Fox after his birdie-putt triumph on the last green at Royal Birkdale on Sunday.
“I was lucky enough to carve my own path there and had support from both my grandfather early on and obviously mum and dad through the whole thing.
[Photo: EPA PHOTO] Ryan Fox reacts after sinking his title-winning putt on the 18th at Royal Birkdale.
“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!” laughed the dad about his two daughters.
Fox was certainly sure his victory would be big news for New Zealand to wake up to, with another golfing major winner to celebrate.
“I know it’s going to ruin a lot of guys’ Monday mornings, but I think we punch above our weight a little bit in New Zealand anyway,” he smiled.
“We’ve got four major champions from New Zealand now: Michael Campbell, Lydia Ko, a multi-major champion, and Sir Bob (Charles, the only previous Open winner back at Lytham in 1963), so to be able to join them is amazing.
“To have my own little piece of history, too, I don’t know if it’s something I’ve dreamed of, something I ever thought was possible, but we’re here now!
“Dame Lydia Ko has won, what, three majors, and she’s not even 30 yet! It’s pretty crazy. I think this will be huge for New Zealand golf.
“Recreationally, the game has been booming pretty much since COVID, and that momentum has kept going. Hopefully this adds a little bit to that.”
A sporting all-rounder, Fox didn’t play golf, competitively, until he was 18 nor turn pro until he was 25, but he quickly made up for his late start by impressing on the Australasian tour
“It was the first tour I played on, where I learned professional golf, the travel and grind that’s involved, it’s a really underrated tour,” he reflected.
“Obviously, the big events, the Aussie Open especially, are very well regarded around the world, but the fields in the smaller events, I always thought were really, really strong.
“You felt like you had to play really well to contend at an Aussie Tour event back in the day, so when I first got over to Europe, I kind of felt ready to compete with those guys purely from having won a couple of times on the Aussie Tour.
“It’s a great pathway into other tours now, a great tour and I would recommend anyone from the southern hemisphere to give it a crack if they want to do it. It’s a great place to learn the game.”
8:00am (AEST): Hopes high that Fox’s Claret Jug ‘Tiki Tour’ will visit Australia
by Tony Webeck
It was the grounding that ultimately led to major championship glory.
Now, Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia officials are hopeful that Ryan Fox’s Claret Jug ‘Tiki Tour’ will include a two-stop visit to Australia later this year.
A three-time winner and the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner in 2019, Fox produced some of the most exceptional shots witnessed in major championship history to claim the 2026 Open Championship by one stroke at Royal Birkdale Golf Club.
[Photo: David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images]
He joins Sir Bob Charles as New Zealand’s only Open champions and is just the fourth Kiwi major winner along with three-time major champion Lydia Ko and 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell.
It is just shy of 12 years since Fox earned his first win on a major tour with the 2014 WA Open at Cottesloe Golf Club, adding the Queensland PGA Championship at City Golf Club in Toowoomba early the following year.
As his status grew to include four wins on the DP World Tour and two on the PGA TOUR, Fox continued to return to the tour where it all started.
It gives officials such as General Manager of Tournaments and Global Tour Relationships for the PGA of Australia, Nick Dastey, cause for optimism that will continue and Fox will play both the BMW Australian PGA Championship (November 26-29) at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney and the Capital.com Australian Open (December 3-6) at Kingston Heath Golf Club on Melbourne’s famed Sandbelt.
“Ryan knows his position within Australasian golf and how important he is to our tour and to our major events,” said Dastey.
“And now that he’s an Open champion – and as much as he now is based in the US – we’re extremely hopeful that he’ll be there for both weeks.
“The greatest thing I could say about Ryan is that he hasn’t changed from the moment he first turned professional to the moment now. And this won’t change him either.
“He’s just a fantastic human being. He is someone that if we could model the professional golfer on and someone that we would want as a tour member, he’s it. He’s brilliant.”
“What this has done to amplify what our tour means, what Ryan’s done for our tour… He’s a player that continues to give back,” said PGA of Australia CEO, Gavin Kirkman.
“He’s an Open champion, Champion Golfer of the Year, but he’s been coming back to Australia. He’s been giving back. He’s been bringing young people through.
“He’s won all around the world now on every tour, but he started on our tour. He’s won the Queensland PGA Championship and so forth.
“We couldn’t be happier for him.”
There is also hope among those behind the New Zealand Open that may extend to a return to Millbrook Resort in March, Fox not shying away from the role the PGA Tour of Australasia played in his formative years as a professional.
“It was where I learned professional golf and everything to do, the travel that’s involved, the grind that’s involved. It’s a really underrated tour,” said Fox, who was tied 39th and tied 14th at the Australian PGA and Australian Open respectively last summer.
“The fields in the smaller events, I always thought were really, really strong. You felt like you had to play really well to contend at an Aussie Tour event back in the day.
“When I first got over to Europe, I kind of felt ready to compete with those guys purely from being on the Aussie Tour and having won a couple times. Knowing I could compete with those guys made me feel good about competing elsewhere in the world.
“It’s a great pathway into other tours now and I would recommend anyone from the southern hemisphere to give it a crack if they want to do it. It’s a great place to learn the game.”
It will be one of the most popular major championship triumphs in the locker rooms of tours across the globe.
Min Woo Lee announced himself to the world with a quarter-final run at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 in his hometown of Perth in 2019.
It would be Fox’s first DP World Tour victory, Lee making a mad dash back to Birkdale on Sunday to congratulate golf’s latest major champion.
“Very happy for him. He’s done really well. I’m very proud of him. Yeah, had some tears in my eyes and got some inspiration from it,” said Lee, who ended the week in a tie for 59th.
“He’s exactly the same as when he’s on the golf course. He’s fast decision-making, doesn’t let many things phase him. And yeah, he’s a really nice guy.
“I’ve known him for years now playing on the Australian tour and all around now. We’re good friends and just very happy.”
7:00am (AEST): Bryson DeChambeau is not a cheater – Scottie Scheffler
[Photo: AP PHOTO]
World No.1 Scottie Scheffler has defended Bryson DeChambeau over the rules controversy that dominated the Open, insisting his fellow American is “not a cheater”.
DeChambeau was at the centre of attention at Royal Birkdale after being penalised two strokes following his second round for improving the line of his swing by trampling on long grass close to his ball.
The incident sparked a furore, with DeChambeau seen remonstrating with officials after being taken back to the scene of the incident on the fifth hole to review the matter.
[Photo: AP PHOTO] Scottie Scheffler insists he’s never seen fellow American Bryson DeChambeau cheat.
Rumours circulated he had threatened to quit the tournament in protest and some of his fellow professionals were irritated that the affair delayed the publication of tee times for Saturday’s play.
World No.2 Rory McIlroy criticised DeChambeau’s “performative” behaviour, which included an after-dark session on the range in front of watching media.
However, tournament organisers the R&A accepted DeChambeau’s actions had been unintentional and Scheffler felt that point should be stressed.
Scheffler said: “All I’ll say is Bryson, I’ve known him for a long time and he’s a lot of things, but he’s definitely not a cheater.
“I’ve never seen him cheat once, whether we were having a putting contest on the putting green or chipping contest, or anytime we played amateur golf, I never saw anything suspicious.
“When you’re watching him there from that camera angle, maybe he was a touch careless around his ball, but I don’t think he did anything intentionally.”
Scheffler believes DeChambeau’s high profile means his every move comes under greater scrutiny, although he also feels the game needs to find a fairer balance when enforcing rules.
He said: “I think maybe we need to be a little bit more strict in the way that we are policing guys, but it’s a little bit of a balance because you’ve got certain guys like Bryson who every shot he hits is going to be shown on TV.
“When you have camera angles that are far away, things can look different than they do when you’re right there.
“I feel like at times, sometimes you see players maybe push it a little bit further than they should.
“I think we need to kind of get back to the traditions of the game and maybe we do need to police things a little bit more stricter in the game.”
Scheffler’s defence of the Claret Jug ended in a tie for fourth, three shots behind winner Ryan Fox, despite a closing 67.
He said: “Today was a great effort. I felt like I was doing the right things out there, I gave myself a lot of looks, but I guess it just wasn’t my week.”
6:30am (AEST): Steve Williams rarely watches golf. But the famed caddie broke habits to see countryman Ryan Fox win at Birkdale
By Evin Priest
Steve Williams never did watch much golf. While caddieing for Tiger Woods from 1999 until 2011, he was famous within golf circles for flying home to New Zealand when Woods had two weeks off from competition. Williams didn’t even check PGA Tour results, let alone switch the TV on.
But early on Monday morning in New Zealand, Williams, the caddie who helped deliver 13 of Woods’ 15 majors and Adam Scott’s 2013 Masters triumph, broke from habit and turned the TV on as his close friend and countryman, Ryan Fox birdied the 72nd hole to win the Open Championship by one shot over Cameron Young at Royal Birkdale.
“I’ve had a little bit to do with Ryan, right from his amateur days through to turning professional and I’ve caddied for him several times at the New Zealand Open,” Williams told Golf Digest via phone from New Zealand. “When you know somebody personally, it’s emotional, for sure.”
Williams has another habit: Encouraging tour pros he believes in before big moments. He used to write notes to Woods. He gave Scott a pep talk on the practice putting green prior to the Australian’s runner-up at the 2011 Masters, which set the stage for his Augusta win two years later. Earlier this week, Williams emailed Fox a note of encouragement.
“I was talking with him before the tournament started and he said his preparation went fantastic and he was really looking forward to it,” Williams said. “When he says he’s playing good, he’s going to be there [in the mix] or thereabouts. I just love encouraging the guy. I’ve told him many times, ‘You’ve got the game [to win a major], you’ve got all it takes.’ You just fill the guy with belief and eventually [he’ll win]. I just think he’s an absolutely fantastic person, and he’s an unbelievable player and it’s just fitting that he’s won the Open Championship.
“I was pretty pumped to watch that third round, when he shot 62 and then to go on today and win it, which is not easy [to follow up]. It his dream, it’s every pro’s dream, to win a major. The claret jug is, in most people’s opinion, probably the one that they want to win the most. It’s the tournament where most people have the opportunity to qualify. It’s not an invite-only sort of an event.”
Fox, 39, became the first New Zealand winner of a men’s major since Michael Campbell defeated Woods by two shots at the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst. Williams and Woods waited around to congratulate Campbell that day. Williams said Woods knew what it meant to New Zealand.
“Golf is so difficult,” Williams said. “There are so many great players. Ryan had never finished in the top 10 in a major and this is the first time he’s got a chance and you don’t know if he’s going to get another. So many things have to fall your way each of those four weeks of the year to win a major.
“But there were a lot of people, myself included, who always believed that Ryan was going to take that grand step and win a major. In my opinion, the Open Championship was the one that suited him the best. He has a ball flight that and a great imagination around the greens and the hard links golf really suits him. So it comes as no surprise.”
Another thing that didn’t catch Williams off guard was the speed at which Fox played, and stepped up to hole his winning putt.
“I’m a little bit shocked myself watching it, but I knew he’d hole that put on the last hole,” Williams said. “That’s the way Ryan operates. He’s like a cat on a hot tin roof. He just can’t stand still. I don’t think anyone, even probably the people in the production truck, could have believed how quick he putted it after Sam Burns holed out. I’m incredibly proud of him and his family.”
Fox won’t be in a rush to return the claret jug to St. Andrews for next year’s 155th Open at the Old Course. That’s a 12-month period every Champion Golfer of The Year wants to go slow.
“I hadn’t thought about that, but yeah, that sounds pretty cool,” Fox said, sitting next to the claret jug.
5am (AEST): Perfect Fox hole powers Kiwi to Open glory at Birkdale
By: Ian Chadband [Photo: AP Photo]
New Zealander Ryan Fox has become British Open champion in brilliant style as Australian Lucas Herbert missed out after a battle for the Claret Jug.
Golf has been left saluting tough New Zealander Ryan Fox after the son of an All Black gun delivered the round of his life, growing ever stronger as his rivals crumbled, to lift the Claret Jug as a rock-hard British Open champion.
Feeling so nervous he was barely able to hold his putter on the final green at Royal Birkdale, the popular Kiwi still managed to play the “perfect” 18th hole, birdieing the brute with a 12-foot putt to win the title by one shot from American Cameron Young in Sunday’s thrilling finale.
Behind the 39-year-old were a host of tales of near-misses, including Australia’s Lucas Herbert, who was still hanging tough in the hunt for the crown at the famous Lancashire links as he teed off at 17, still requiring two birdies to match clubhouse leader Young on nine-under.
But an untidy penultimate hole, where the 30-year-old drove into the bushes, got bunkered with his third shot and ended up with a bogey six, followed by a par at the last, ensured Herbert could only finish on six-under, tied for sixth four shots behind the winner.
But up ahead, Fox, son of World Cup-winning All Black flyhalf Grant Fox, proved unbreakable in his mentality, looking, as he had all afternoon, like the one golfer out there ready to dare to attack for glory.
Fox, who became only the second New Zealander ever to lift the Jug after Bob Charles 63 years earlier, had endured bad luck during the round, coming up against a bunker lip on 15 and just trickling into a fairway sand trap after a fine drive on 17, but he refused to be daunted.
After missing a 10-footer on 17 to take the lead, he drove off on 18 tied with Young, who had earlier given all the field a severe target to match after a 64, the best round of the entire day.
Sam Burns was also in a position to match Young’s total if he could hole his birdie putt at the last, but it slid by for the overnight leader to finish third on eight under.
But Fox played a glorious approach on the final hole, the popular Aucklander, who never wastes any time on the course, then quickly knuckling down to sink the winning putt for a 68 and a winning total of 10-under, before pumping his arms in joy.
“With me, it’s always been ‘see a shot, hit a shot’. As soon as I start thinking about it too much, then some bad stuff creeps in,” smiled Fox.
“On the last, I hit two perfect shots. I’m not sure how I hit the putt. My hands were all over the place; I was just trying to get it towards the hole somewhere. It’s surreal that it went in. Yeah, ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ has a pretty good ring to it.”
His wife and two children were in Florida. “I spoke to my kids last night, and they said, ‘bring back a trophy’. I think this is a pretty cool one to bring back for them!”
Ultimately, as the sea breezes kicked up to make Birkdale a real test on the final day with Fox being one of only three players in the final 12 groups to shoot under par, all his main rivals were far too error-prone.
That included Herbert, who like Fox, had earlier in the week recorded a record-equalling all-time low round in a men’s major championship, with a landmark eight-under 62. His four bogeys on Sunday eventually sank him.
“I can’t be too upset,” shrugged the Victorian, who shot a final-round 71 but just missed out on the top-five finish which would have earned him a place in all the majors next season.
“A lot of positives to take. It’s my best finish in a major. I genuinely contended. I was up around the lead for the last 45 holes. There’s a lot to take away from that. I’ve learned so much this week.”
World No.1 Scottie Scheffler (67) finished tied for fourth on seven under, alongside local hero Tommy Fleetwood (68), while South African Casey Jarvis (66) and Korean Si Woo Kim (72) were alongside Herbert in fourth.
Evergreen Australian Adam Scott, at the age of 46 and in his 101st consecutive major, earned his seventh top-10 finish in an Open, with a final round 66 earning him joint-ninth position on five under.
Like everyone else, though, Herbert was delighted for Fox, who’s one of the most popular performers in golf. “His manager and my caddie are really close. Yeah, the Aussies and the Kiwis tend to stick together out there, familiar breed,” smiled Herbert.
4:30am (AEST): “You asked me to bring a trophy home and I am …” There were plenty of indelible images from Ryan Fox’s triumph at Royal Birkdale. His Saturday 62. His incredible up-and-down birdie on No.14 on Sunday. His 330-yard nuke, gutty approach to 11 feet and ice-water birdie putt on the 72nd hole to seal it. Take your pick. But as far as signature sound bite, there is no debate. It’s this and this alone.
That was the scene shortly after Fox’s decisive putt fell. He phoned home to share the moment with his family watching in Florida. When his daughter joined the call, he got to give her the good news: That trophy she asked for was coming home. Sure beats a new Barbie if you ask us.
“I don’t know what to think right now,” Fox continued. “I don’t know how I hit that last putt to be honest.” – Coleman Bentley
3:36am (AEST): A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH! RYAN FOX WINS THE 154TH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP! A wild week at Royal Birkdale ends with a walk-off birdie putt by popular New Zealander Ryan Fox.
The 39-year-old Kiwi 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 at this:
3:15am (AEST): Scottie Scheffler did end up talking about Bryson . . .
The World No.1 said he wasn’t going there following Saturday’s third round, but after completing his Open Championship on Sunday, he couldn’t resist discussing BrysonGate. His words, as always, were measured.
“All I can really say is I think maybe we need to be a little bit more strict in the way that we are policing guys,” Scheffler said, adding “but it’s a little bit of a balance because you’ve got certain guys like a Bryson who every shot he hits is going to be shown on TV. When you have camera angles that are far away, things can look different than they do when you’re right there.”
Scheffler sounded like he wanted to expand further, but he stopped himself, saying that he didn’t want anything to get taken out of context. Then, he came to Bryson’s defence.
“All I’ll say is Bryson, I’ve known him for a long time, and he’s a lot of things, but he’s definitely not a cheater. I’ve never seen him cheat once, whether we were having a putting contest on the putting green or chipping contest, or anytime we played amateur golf, I never saw anything suspicious.” – Christopher Powers
3am (AEST): Fox rejoins the lead! HUGE birdie at 16 from New Zealand’s Ryan Fox that sees him move to 9-under and back into a share of the Open lead with American Cam Young. Par-5 17th to come. Crucial moment in the tournament!
2:45am Monday (AEST): Cameron Young got aggressive on the final hole. Will it cost him the claret jug? Cam Young gave it everything. A front-nine 29, a birdie on 14, another on 17 and he was tied for the lead as he stood on the 18th tee. But a high quality, controlled round of golf – which could have seen him match the lowest final-round score in major history (63) – stumbled over the line as he found a fairway bunker off the tee, barely escaped the sand and finished with a bogey.
Now it’s a waiting game as to whether it’s enough to claim the title at the Open Championship.
“I felt like I had a chance to get the second one on the green,” he said after posting a 64 to get into the clubhouse at nine-under 271. “It was only 160-something yards to the front. So I felt like there was an off chance I could get something on the front edge.”
Starting the day in a tie for 20th, he immediately played his way onto the leaderboards at Royal Birkdale with a hat trick of opening birdies. Another followed at five and suddenly, he found himself in the hunt.
“I knew right off the bat, ‘OK, you’re right there.’”
With the wind freshening on the back nine, Young looked bulletproof. Par saving putts, low-rising irons off the tee, fairways, greens and a charge that saw him tied with Si Woo Kim arriving at his 72nd hole.
A discussion with his caddie and college teammate, Kyle Sterbinsky, resulted in driver being pulled. The same approach he used in the third round, finding the fairway bunker, making a bogey and dropping off the same leaderboards he was now atop of.
“Driver is aggressive there,” Young later admitted. “The only option to take out all the bunkers is to leave yourself like 265 in, which didn’t feel that smart to me either. I just figured go ahead and try to hit a good one.”
The drive found the same bunker. A decent lie but the same bunker. Thinking that 10-under par was the score he needed to potentially win The Open, he stayed aggressive, pulling a six-iron with the goal of hitting the green.
Things did not go to plan.
He caught his second shot slightly thin and looked up to see it hit the face and rebound into the right rough. The shock on his face was clear.
His third shot trickled into the greenside bunker and whilst his attempt at par from the sand came very close, he dropped his first shot of the day and finished nine-under par.
“I really felt like 10 had a good chance to win the golf tournament. It was just trying to win the golf tournament.”
We’ll wait to see if he still has a chance. – Jaime Kennedy
2am Monday (AEST): Adam Scott just keeps producing the goods. ‘Scotty’ provided another reminder of his enduring class, closing out his historic101st consecutive major championship appearance with a superb four-under-par 66 at Royal Birkdale. The former Masters champion mixed six birdies with just two bogeys to surge inside the top 10, producing one of the day’s best rounds and proving he remains a force on golf’s biggest stages.
At 46, Scott’s remarkable major streak continues, with Sunday’s polished finish another testament to the consistency and longevity that have defined one of Australian golf’s greatest careers.
1:15am Monday (AEST): Is this the worst lie you’ve ever seen? Scottie Scheffler’s cold putter is the main thing keeping him from reclaiming the claret jug, but a bad break late on Sunday didn’t help. After missing his tee shot right on the par-4 13th, Scheffler’s ball buried into a hole in a sandy dune.
The result? A second shot that went about 10 feet. The World No.1 did pretty well to save bogey from there, but it stalled his charge after he had climbed within a couple shots of the lead. – Alex Myers
1am Monday (AEST): Robert MacIntyre has tested the “code of conduct” waters on Sunday. Given all the 62s out there for the early wave, Bob Mac likely had designs on taking it deep Sunday. That’s exactly what his playing partner, Cameron Young, is doing. As for Bob, he’s gone backwards, which probably makes watching Young go crazy even more frustrating. After an early birdie at No.3, MacIntyre found a pot bunker on the fourth and had a terrible shot, but wound up hitting a good one to about 15 feet. He slammed his club in disgust anyway.
While he saved par, things deteriorated from there, with MacIntyre making bogeys at six, seven and 13. A birdie at No.14 cooled him down but only for a wee bit, as a poor drive at the 16th tee led to another club slam. As Karen Stupples reported on featured groups coverage, that led to a warning for his “behaviour”:
Bob made bogey at 16 and is currently on the brink of the top 40. Not how he expected this day to end, surely. – Christopher Powers
UPDATE: Bobby Mac confirms he got a slap on the wrist, and will probably get plenty more:
12:45am Monday (AEST): All work and no play makes Alex Fitzpatrick a dull boy. It’s been a transformative summer for the younger Fitzpatrick. He earned his PGA Tour card with a win alongside his brother Matthew Fitzpatrick at the Zurich Classic. He followed that up with four top-10s and was in the mix after 36 holes at Royal Birkdale before a disappointing weekend. On paper, it’s been the kind of summer you never want to end, but when asked about his post-Open plans on Sunday, Fitzpatrick was honest:
He’s ready for a vacation. – Coleman Bentley
12:20am Monday (AEST): Tommy Fleetwood’s final round gets off to a dream start. The most popular player in the field at Royal Birkdale gave his home crowd something to cheer about right out of the gate on Sunday. After finding the green on No.1, Fleetwood rolled in a 73-footer for birdie to jumpstart his round.
12:15am Monday (AEST): Cameron Young is making a big move on Sunday. A brutal back-nine 40 on Saturday seemed to end Cameron Young’s chances of claiming the claret jug this week. But in the words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friend!” Needing to get off to a red-hot start on Sunday to have any chance, the reigning Players champ did exactly that.
Young birdied his first three holes and then added birdies at No.5 and No.9 as he made the turn in 29 to move up into a tie for second. – Alex Myers
11.50pm Sunday (AEST): Final-round tee times have been delayed due to . . . a ruling? And, no, it doesn’t involve Bryson DeChambeau. But Bryson and anyone else teeing off after 1:05pm local time has been delayed by about 15 minutes because of a ruling involving Game No.32, which is the group of Daniel Brown and young Aussie Cameron John, according to NBC. While details haven’t emerged yet, the Open’s scoring app shows that Brown hit a provisional tee shot off No.1 and wound up having to take a penalty drop on his way to a double-bogey so it seems like that might be the cause of the delay. In any event, here are the original tee times for the final round. So, make another cup of coffee and enjoy.
11:45pm Sunday (AEST): Six shots back to start the final round at Royal Birkdale is quite different from four shots ahead at Royal Portrush. But Scottie Scheffler’s determination to win the claret jug seems no different. And judging from his opening hole on Sunday, he’s going to play aggressive. After just missing the fairway on No.1, Scheffler stuff his approach to within 18 inches.
Scheffler then proceeded to hit his approach on the second hole to inside four feet, holing another birdie putt to get to six-under, four now off the lead. If there’s a name that could put a scare in the leaders should it start to appear on the leaderboard, it’s Scheffler. – Ryan Herrington
9.45am Sunday (AEST): The Round 4 pairings for our Aussies and Kiwis are in – and they’re box office.
The hunted has become the hunter as Lucas Herbert scratched and clawed his way to a 1-over 71 to keep his hopes of a maiden major victory alive at The Open Championship.
Starting day three at Royal Birkdale Golf Club with a two-stroke lead, Herbert was tied at the top before he teed off, Kiwi Ryan Fox firing the third 8-under 62 in two days to match the lowest round in major championship history and ignite his tournament aspirations.
Herbert will start the final round three strokes back of American Sam Burns (65) and paired with Swede Ludvig Aberg in the third-to-last group, well within range to make a Sunday run at the Claret Jug.
The top of the leaderboard is littered with Australasian players with two former Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winners in Fox and fellow Kiwi Kazuma Kobori, Herbert and four-time Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia winner Cameron John all inside the top 11. – Tony Webeck via golf.org.au
Round 4 tee times AEST
5:50pm Min Woo Lee, Tyrrell Hatton
7:40pm Adam Scott, Patrick Reed
10:05pm Cameron John, Daniel Brown
1:15pm Kazuma Kobori (NZ), Hideki Matsuyama
11pm Lucas Herbert, Ludvig Aberg
11:20pm Ryan Fox (NZ), Sam Burns
5:10am Sunday (AEST): Is this one of the greatest recovery shots in golf history?
NBC’s broadcast team certainly felt so, and it’s hard to argue. After pulling his tee shot on No.17 well left and into a dune, Lucas Herbert was lucky to even find his golf ball. And after taking an unplayable penalty, it looked like he’d be lucky to even get his ball back in play. Instead, he took a violent lash and wound up nearly hitting the flagstick for a shot you have to see to believe:
Unfortunately for Herbert, he didn’t make the birdie putt, but still, what a par to stay in the hunt as he tries to win his maiden major title. – Alex Myers
5am Sunday (AEST): Bryson went full “performative” mode on 18.
Rory McIlroy’s “performative” label on DeChambeau may have sounded harsh, but there was an element of truth to it. Bryson is the ultimate showman, as he’s proven time and time again. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the latest episode of “Breaking 50,” or in the middle of winning the US Open, he’s going to play to the crowd no matter what.
The show went on, literally, at the 18th on Saturday, where DeChambeau was grinding out an impressive round to stay in contention. He pulled his drive into the left fescue, where the crowd began egging him on.
Here’s how Bryson arrived at his ball:
Surprised he didn’t do this on every single shot. Then again, not surprised he waited to do it until every last bit of attention was on him.
Unfortunately, DeChambeau did go on to make bogey, but his one-under 69 has still given him a chance at the claret jug on Sunday. – Christopher Powers
4.30am Sunday (AEST): Even Scottie Scheffler is ironically fist pumping missed putts now.
After three straight days of making almost nothing at the Open Championship, the World No.1 reached the end of his rope on Saturday evening. As Scheffler watched yet another six-footer slide by – this one for birdie on the par-5 17th – he raised his fist to the sky in some mixture of ironic celebration and triumphant protest.
Scheffler was equally animated after tapping in for par, wildly gesticulately to caddie Ted Scott about the uneven tracking of the Royal Birkdale putting surfaces. Scheffler doesn’t generally wear his emotions on his sleeve, but has struggled mightily from outside of seven feet this week. Late Saturday, his patience finally seemed to run out.
The defending champion ultimately shot an even-par 70, and sits five back of leader Sam Burns heading into Sunday’s final round. However, if Scheffler wants to make a run at a second straight Claret Jug, he’ll first have to make nice with his flatstick. – Coleman Bentley
4:15am Sunday (AEST): Jon Rahm just saved par from his knees!
The Spaniard’s immense short-game talents were really put to the test on the 18th hole on Saturday. Unable to take a normal stance, Rahm dropped down to his knees and pulled off a sensational sand shot on his way to saving par and shooting a third-round 70. Have a look:
4am Sunday (AEST): Bookmark that drive on 11 from Lucas Herbert.
After struggling over his first six holes, Herbert was able to right the ship with birdies on seven and nine to retake the lead. However, his driver leaked on the 11th and into a burn … only for his ball to rattle around each side of the hazard and pop up and land safely.
Incredibly, Herbert’s next shot also received a good bounce, seemingly heading long into the heather before taking a soft hop and coming down the slope, leading to a par. There aren’t many places in Birkdale to make a big number, so for Herbert to escape unscathed is something that could loom large the rest of the weekend. – Joel Beall
3:45am Sunday (AEST): “That was a moment.”
Those expecting fireworks from Bryson DeChambeau on Saturday after everything that transpired Friday have not gotten their wish. However, DeChambeau is not out of the tournament, humming along at one-under for the round, six-under for the championship. Things could have gotten away from him at the par-3 12th, though, where the pin is tucked on the right behind a dune and the wind is off the right. It’s the type of shot nobody is taking on, opting to bail out way left. DeChambeau, naturally, took it on, coming up miles short into a pot bunker, leaving him with a 10 out of 10 on the difficulty scale bunker shot over the dune. –
Bryson blasted one out to 11 feet, then drained the par putt. “That was a MOMENT,” remarked Paul McGinley on the NBC broadcast. It did feel like a big swing, especially with both of Royal Birkdale’s par 5s lurking, and the lead remaining in single digits. – Christopher Powers
3.30am Sunday (AEST) Herbert clings on to Open lead on tight moving day
Lucas Herbert was left still clinging on to his British Open lead halfway through his third round at Royal Birkdale on a day when New Zealander Ryan Fox lit up the Championship with another record-equalling 62.
Just as Herbert, the overnight leader by two shots, had equalled the lowest round ever recorded at a men’s major championship on Friday, Fox became the third man at Royal Birkdale this week to shoot a landmark eight-under round of 62 on Saturday.
Fox’s early brilliance meant that by the time Herbert was the last to tee off, he had already been caught at eight-under by his trans-Tasman colleague.
Then as ‘moving day’ unfolded on the Lancashire links, 30-year-old Herbert was initially knocked out of first place as his pursuers began to make a move, only to regroup after dropping a shot at the third hole to reach the turn in one-under and move back to the head of the leaderboard at nine-under.
As he moved into the inward half of his round, the Australian LIV star was one shot clear of Fox and Sam Burns, the other member of the ’62 club’ who’d also shot an eight-under round on Friday.
Just a shot behind them were charging local hero Tommy Fleetwood, Korean Si Woo Kim, Cameron Young and Herbert’s US playing partner Jackson Suber, who were all on seven under going into the day’s business end. – Ian Chadband | AAP
2:30am Sunday (AEST): The Rory McIlroy-Bryson DeChambeau feud explodes!
Following a one-under 69 on Day 3, Rory McIlroy lamented not making more of a move up the leaderboard before being asked about Bryson DeChambeau’s controversial penalty.
“I was watching it live. I was up in the players lounge watching it with a few other players, and as soon as he made the step into the ball, we all sort of looked at each other, and we were like, that didn’t seem right,” McIlroy said. “Then when I heard that he was called in by the rules officials, I think we all – it was pretty obvious for why.
“I think there’s no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing. Again, it’s like, whether it was careless or whether it was intentional, I don’t think it matters. Hopefully it was careless, but I think the two-shot penalty was justified for sure.”
As Australian Golf Digest detailed, the scenes following the R&A’s decision Friday night bordered on the surreal. McIlroy was watching from home, and was not a fan of what he was seeing.
“Yeah, look, I won’t pretend to be up here and defend Bryson. I’m not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it’s performative. I think a lot of it’s for attention,” McIlroy said.
“To hold the tournament hostage like that, and to have all of us, players, volunteers, everyone waiting on him to depart, I didn’t feel like it was a great look.” – Joel Beall
1:40am Sunday (AEST): Can your playing partners affect your score?
Brad Faxon certainly thinks so. And he believes Scottie Scheffler got a bad draw playing the first two days with Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton, who he described on NBC as “two guys who are difficult to play with.” The eight-time PGA Tour winner added, “It’s almost like a two-stroke penalty.” Ouch.
Scheffler entered the weekend at four-under par through 36 holes. He’s playing with Francesco Molinari at Royal Birkdale on Saturday. – Alex Myers
1:30am Sunday (AEST): One of the PGA Tour’s most thoughtful players has come to Bryson DeChambeau’s defence.
There are plenty opinions circulating about the two-shot penalty DeChambeau received on Friday evening after his second round, but one worth highlighting came from Max Homa. The former King of Golf Twitter weighed in on the controversy surrounding the sport’s content king by saying – among other things – that he didn’t agree with the ruling and that DeChambeau “would never cheat the game of golf.”
It won’t give him back those two shots, but Bryson has to feel better knowing he’s getting some support from his fellow competitors. – Alex Myers
1am Sunday (AEST): Nick Faldo just fired another shot in his cold war of words with Bryson DeChambeau.
Before Friday’s run-in with some tall grass and R&A rules officials, Bryson DeChambeau’s biggest beef at Birkdale this week was with Nick Faldo. In the build-up to the 154th Open Championship, Faldo said DeChambeau “zero clue” of links golf strategy. DeChambeau clapped back after a strong opening round and on Saturday, Sir Nick made sure to let everyone know that it’s all good, they’re friends actually!
After Friday’s fesue fiasco, however, Faldo decided to poke the bear again, saying on Sky Sports, “Bryson wants to be the centre of attention and everything … I’ve got to believe it’s [the drama surrounding the rules incident] another hurdle to climb.”
A classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, but perhaps that’s the real reason for the pair’s simmering disdain for each other: They’re actully TOO much alike.
Pop psychology aside, we’ll see if DeChambeau chirps back or is as focused as he says he is. If he resists the bait, it might be the surest sign yet that he’s put the controversy behind him and is ready to contend for the Claret Jug. – Coleman Bentley
12am Sunday (AEST): Make it three 62s at Royal Birkdale in a little more than 24 hours.
Ryan Fox did the honours on Saturday, making nine birdies and a bogey to not become the sixth golfer to share the all-time men’s 18-hole scoring mark in a major, but grab a share of the Open lead with Lucas Herbert at eight-under. Like Herbert on Friday, Fox had a look at a putt for a 61 to break the record. Mind you, it was 47½ feet, compared to Herbert’s five, but given the fact his drive on the hole ended up in a fairway bunker, reaching the green in two was an accomplishment. Here’s how close Fox came to becoming the first to shoot a 61:
– Ryan Herrington
12pm Saturday (AEST): Bryson makes call on weekend participation
It looks like Bryson DeChambeau will most certainly be playing this weekend in the Open Championship.
After Friday’s rules issue that cost DeChambeau two strokes, discerning lip-readers believe that DeChambeau said to R&A officials that he wasn’t going “to play tomorrow.” A wild statement, given that DeChambeau, even with the penalty shots, trails leader Lucas Herbert by only three strokes.
DeChambeau then went out and pounded balls on the range into well after dark. Seemingly cooled down, DeChambeau did a short post on X confirming that he’d continue to go on.
And we might have trouble sleeping tonight in anticipation of what a spectacle it could be at Birkdale on Saturday with the pro- and anti-Bryson camps showing up in full throat.
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11:40pm (AEST): The most disappointing 62 in major championship history?
Lucas Herbert might have a claim to it after his finish on Friday at Royal Birkdale. The 30-year-old Aussie had made nine birdies on his opening 17 holes and only needed a par on the 18th hole to shoot a 61 and break the men’s major 18-hole scoring mark. But he walked off with a bogey when he missed a five-footer for par after a wayward drive put the record in jeopardy.
Now he can claim the sixth 62 in a men’s major, joining Brendan Grace (2017 Open Championship, third round, Birkdale); Rickie Fowler (2023 US Open, first round, LACC); Xander Schauffele (2023 US Open, first round, LACC); Xander Schauffele (2024 PGA, first round, Valhalla); and Shane Lowry (2023 PGA, third round, Valhalla). Sam Burns would join him just 15 minutes later, signing off for a 62 of his own that was kind of missed by everyone in all the Herbert hoo-ha.
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11:31pm (AEST): Nick Faldo responds to Bryson DeChambeau’s ‘strategy’ response . . . to Nick Faldo
We’re having a good old-fashioned response-off between a pair of major champions at the Open Championship this week.
Nick Faldo began this curious back-and-forth with Bryson DeChambeau by making comments on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast ahead of the tournament. The six-time major champ didn’t hold back regarding Bryson’s links golf strategy – or lack thereof.
“He has – I’d say it to his face – he has zero clue of strategy,” Faldo said.
Only it doesn’t appear he has said it to DeChambeau’s face. And after the two-time US Open champ shot 67 on Thursday, he responded to Faldo’s comments in a cheeky manner, using some form of the word “strategy” three times in one answer.
And on Friday, Faldo stoked the flames again by releasing a video message in which he stands by his original comments. However, he also noted that DeChambeau played smartly on Thursday, that he’s a big fan of Bryson and that the two text throughout the season. Have a look and listen:
OK then.
It should also be noted that DeChambeau broke a record at last year’s Open for a 54-hole span by shooting 65-68-64. And then added 67 on Thursday. So, whatever strategy he’s using seems to be working. – Alex Myers
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11:00pm (AEST): Matt Fitzpatrick was never winning this golf tournament.
Expectations can be a helluva drug, and not the kind that makes you feel good. Coming into the week, Fitzy was playing some of the best golf of his life, making him a popular betting pick. There is no worse place to be. Just checked the “most tipped” chart from the Golf Tips Checker Twitter/X account, which tracked over 350 tips from 50 different sources in in the golf betting community (including our big brothers at US Golf Digest):
This is the last chart you want to see yourself on. More proof that the “public” being all over you is the kiss of death. Fitz, who made a birdie at the 11th that got him closer to the cut line on Friday, promptly made a double at the next hole to drop to four over. Unless he has, at minimum, three more birdies (probably needs four) and no bogeys in him the rest of the way, he will be headed home early. Other highly-tipped golfers on that chart include Wyndham Clark and Tom Kim, who both appear destined for a MC, too. – Christopher Powers
RELATED: Min Woo’s putting switch pays off at Royal Birkdale
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9:00pm (AEST): Lucas Herbert enters the history books!
Australian Lucas Herbert has made a dramatic, record-equalling morning move in the second round of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale to shoot to the top of the leaderboard.
The LIV golfer from Bendigo, five off the pace overnight sitting at level par, took advantage of perfect scoring conditions on the Lancashire links on Friday morning, equalling the lowest nine-hole score in Open history with a six-under 28.
Herbert’s six birdies in nine holes equalled the 28 also set at Birkdale by Englishman Denis Durnian 43 years earlier.
From nowhere, it meant the Victorian had raced straight to the top of the leaderboard at six-under, one shot clear of the overnight leader, American Jackson Suber, who was on five under after 14 holes.
It was a remarkable passage of play from the in-form Herbert, who revealed earlier in the week at Southport how the uncertainty surrounding the future of LIV Golf had taken a toll on him, and even made him consider his future in the sport.
The 30-year-old Victorian opened up by holing a 16-foot birdie putt at the first, and followed with a 15-footer at the second. He chased that spectacular start with a tee shot to five feet at the short third to move immediately to three under.
On Thursday, none of the seven Australian golfers had been able to break par, but Herbert was eagerly cashing in on the mild morning conditions on a baking links course that he had described as being like “playing a game of country cricket out on a real rural oval”.
On the 326-yard fifth, Herbert’s bold attack on the par-four meant his drive nestled up at the side of the green, and he nearly chipped in for an eagle, coming up an inch short as he settled for birdie number four.
At the short seventh, he didn’t threaten the pin with his tee shot, finishing some 36 feet away, but he holed the putt nonetheless to take the outright lead for the first time.
At the ninth, Herbert putted from the fringe from 25 feet to make it six birdies in nine holes, lying a shot clear of Suber and another American, Bud Cauley. – Ian Chadband | AAP
UPDATE (9:35pm): Herbert has kept his hot run going, now sitting at eight-under and two shots ahead of the field.
MORE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE HERE
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8:20pm: Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. So that’s what we like to go with here at Australian Golf Digest.
