Fox wins Open at Royal Birkdale

What's happened

Ryan Fox has won the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, finishing ten under. The win makes him New Zealand’s fourth major champion and follows a week marked by fast play and dramatic momentum. He defeated Cameron Young with a final-round surge, while the event featured record attendance and praise for Fox’s pace.

What's behind the headline?

Quick read

• Fox has clinched The Open, delivering a masterclass in pace and nerve.
• The win marks his first major, elevating his status in New Zealand sport and on the world stage.
• The course at Royal Birkdale provided a stern test, with the final day emphasizing accuracy and composure under pressure.

What this means

• Fox’s victory will likely increase interest in golf in New Zealand and globally, and could inspire a new generation of players to prioritize pace and efficiency on greens.
• The Open’s finish underlines the importance of maintaining tempo on the back nine when the crowd and stakes are highest.

How we got here

The week at Royal Birkdale offered a demanding links test under hot, dry conditions. Fox, who is 39, rose to prominence by fitting into a tradition of quick, decisive golf, a contrast to slow-play criticisms that have affected recent Opens. He joins New Zealand’s major-winners lineage, with his victory aligning him with predecessors such as Bob Charles. The event included a field that delivered three players posting 62 in major rounds and highlighted the global reach of golf as Fox’s triumph was celebrated back home and by fans worldwide.

Our analysis

The Guardian reports on Fox’s reflection about handling pressure and the impact of his win in New Zealand, while The Scotsman emphasizes Fox’s pace and the course conditions that shaped the Open. Independent covers the national pride and Charles’s remarks praising Fox. BBC and New York Post provide colorful anecdotes about the caddie prank that preceded the tournament.

Go deeper

• What impact will Fox’s pace have on young players’ approach to the game?
• How does this win influence NZ sport beyond golf?
• What next for Fox as he defends or seeks further majors?

More on these topics

• New Zealand - Country in Oceania

  New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It comprises two main landmasses—the North Island and the South Island —and around 600 smaller islands, covering a total area of 268,021 square kilometres.

• Royal Birkdale Golf Club - Golf course in the United Kingdom

  Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the United Kingdom in North West England, located in Southport, Merseyside. It is one of the clubs in the rotation for both the Open Championship and Women's British Open and has hosted the Open Championship ten times from 1954 through 2017. Winners of the Open at the course include Pádraig Harrington, Mark O'Meara, Ian Baker-Finch, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, Peter Thomson (twice) and Jordan Spieth. The course is scheduled to hold the Open Championship again in 2026. Royal Birkdale hosted the women's tournament for a sixth time in 2014, and was the site of the Senior Open Championship in 2013. It has also hosted the Ryder Cup (1965, 1969), the Walker Cup (1951), and the Curtis Cup (1948). Other courses in the Open rota near Liverpool are Royal Liverpool Golf Club (Hoylake) and Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club. On 22 July 2017, in the third round of the 2017 Open Championship, Branden Grace became the first man in major championship history to record a score of 62 in a single round.

• Grant Fox - New Zealand rugby union footballer and coach

  Grant James Fox (born 16 June 1962) is a former rugby union player from New Zealand. He was a member of the All Blacks team that won the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987. He is also the father of professional golfer, Ryan Fox. Fox holds the world record for most points scored in a Rugby World Cup tournament of 126 in the 1987 Rugby World Cup. He also holds the world record for most conversions in one world cup tournament of 30 also from the same 1987 cup.

• Merv Wallace - New Zealand cricketer

  Walter Mervyn Wallace MNZM was a New Zealand cricketer and former Test match captain. Former New Zealand captain John Reid called him "the most under-rated cricketer to have worn the silver fern."

• Cameron Young - American professional golfer

  Cameron David Young (born May 7, 1997) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, where he has won three titles. After playing collegiately for Wake Forest University, Young turned professional in 2019. He won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021 to secure promotion to the PGA Tour. Young was voted PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2021–22 season on the strength of five runner-up finishes, including the 2022 Open Championship. He won his first PGA Tour event in 2025 and his second at the 2026 Players Championship.

• The Open Championship - Golf tournament held in the United Kingdom

  The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later the venue...

• St Andrews - Town in Scotland

  St Andrews is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, 10 miles southeast of Dundee and 30 miles northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 as of 2011, making it Fife's fourth largest settlement and 45th most populous sett

• Tommy Fleetwood - English professional golfer

  Thomas Paul Fleetwood is an English professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. He has won five times on the tour.

• Bryson DeChambeau - American professional golfer

  Bryson James Aldrich DeChambeau is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. In 2015, he became the fifth player in history to win both the NCAA Division I championship and the U.S. Amateur in the same year.

• Colin Montgomerie - Scottish professional golfer

  Colin Stuart Montgomerie (born 23 June 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutive ones from 1993 to 1999. He has won 31 European Tour events, third among European players, placing him fourth on the all-time list of golfers with most European Tour victories. However, Montgomerie never won on the PGA Tour. Montgomerie won three consecutive Volvo PGA Championships at Wentworth Club between 1998 and 2000. He has finished runner-up on five occasions in major championships and his career-high world ranking is second. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013. After turning 50 in 2013, Montgomerie has had a successful career on the PGA Tour Champions and European Senior Tour, including winning three senior major championships.

• Rugby World Cup - International rugby union competition

  The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognized as the world champions of the sport. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb Ellis Cup, named after William Webb Ellis who, according to a popular legend, invented rugby by picking up the ball during a football game and running with it. The tournament was first held in 1987 and was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia. Four countries have won the trophy; South Africa four times, New Zealand three times, Australia twice, and England once. South Africa is the current champion, having defeated New Zealand in the final of the 2023 tournament. Sixteen teams participated in the tournament from 1987 until 1995; in 1999, the tournament expanded to twenty teams. Japan hosted the 2019 Rugby World Cup and France hosted the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The tournament will expand again to twenty-four teams when it is held in Australia in 2027. Starting in 2021, the women's equivalent tournament was officially renamed the Rugby World Cup to promote equality with the men...

• England - Country of the United Kingdom

  England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by

• Claret Jug - Trophy presented to the winner of The Open Championship (British Open)

  The Golf Champion Trophy, commonly known as the Claret Jug, is the trophy presented to the winner of The Open Championship, one of the four major championships in golf.

• Sam Burns - American golfer

  Samuel Holland Burns is an American professional golfer. He plays on the PGA Tour where he has one win, the 2021 Valspar Championship. He played his college golf at Louisiana State University

• Southport - Town in England

  Southport is a large seaside town in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.

• Charley Hull - English professional golfer

  Charley Esmee Hull is an English professional golfer who has achieved success both on the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour, winning honours as Rookie of the Year, becoming the youngest competitor to participate in the international Solheim Cup match