New Zealand’s Ryan Fox hit the iron shot and putt of his life on the 72nd hole Sunday to win the 154th Open Championship for the first major championship title of his career.
Needing a birdie on the 18th hole to avoid a playoff with clubhouse leader Cameron Young, Fox hit his approach shot from 175 yards. As the ball flew in the blue English sky toward the green, Fox yelled, “Be right!”
It was.
The ball stopped 11½ feet from the hole. After his playing partner, Sam Burns, putted out for par, Fox drained the birdie putt to win the Claret Jug. He raised both arms into the air after the ball fell into the cup.
Burns, who started the final round with a two-stroke lead, made three consecutive bogeys on the front nine to fall back of the leaders. He left a 32½-foot birdie putt short on the par-5 17th that would have tied Fox and Young going into the 18th.
Burns finished third at 8 under.
Young, who was also trying to win his first major, watched more than two hours of action from the clubhouse after carding a 6-under 64 in the final round to put plenty of pressure on the other contenders.
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