{"id":823730,"date":"2026-07-25T22:06:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T22:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/823730\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T22:06:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T22:06:29","slug":"open-championship-2026-winner-ryan-fox-returns-to-nz-with-claret-jug-australian-golf-digest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/823730\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Championship 2026 winner Ryan Fox returns to NZ with Claret Jug \u2013 Australian Golf Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[EPA PHOTO]<\/p>\n<p>Open Championship winner Ryan Fox is back home in NZ and the first thing he wanted, apart from showing off his trophy, was a steak, \u200bbacon jam and cheese pie.<\/p>\n<p>Ryan Fox has returned home to New Zealand eager to celebrate his British Open triumph with family and friends, tuck into a favourite local \u200cpie and, if weather permits, sneak in a round of golf.<\/p>\n<p>The newly crowned champion cut short the post-major \u200cwhirlwind to fly home, saying it was important to share the moment with those closest to him after \u200cbecoming the first New Zealander since Bob Charles in 1963 to win golf\u2019s oldest major.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/download-8-1-1024x576.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-150231\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>[EPA PHOTO]<\/p>\n<p>We made kind of a little bit of a last-minute decision to come home and celebrate with friends and family while it\u2019s still fresh,\u201d the 39-year-old told reporters at Auckland airport on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m definitely not fresh at the moment \u2026 but excited \u200cto be home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After \u200can emotional week, \u2060Fox found it a blessing to have a long-haul flight with \u200bno Wi-Fi, allowing him to enjoy a glass of wine and some much-needed sleep before starting another busy schedule in New Zealand to catch up with people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(I will) just spend some time with mum and dad. I\u2019ll get the trophy out of the case and show it off,\u201d said the burly late bloomer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd probably wouldn\u2019t \u2060mind a pie either.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fox has his sights set on \u200ca steak, \u200bbacon jam and cheese pie from a favourite local bakery, a classic Kiwi comfort food.<\/p>\n<p>The father-of-two said \u200bhis young daughters \u200cwere thrilled by the famous trophy and had already claimed it as their own.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey think it\u2019s \u200btheir trophy,\u201d he said with a smile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI haven\u2019t quite had the heart to break it to them that it\u2019s mine, and I\u2019ve got to give it back at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/download-9-1-1024x576.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-150232\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>[EPA PHOTO]<\/p>\n<p>Fox\u2019s win \u200bat \u200bRoyal Birkdale on the Irish Sea coast \u200bsparked a wave of celebration across New Zealand, dominating \u200ctelevision bulletins and sports coverage for days across the country where the last men\u2019s major winner was Michael Campbell at the 2005 US Open.<\/p>\n<p>He said he hoped to grab a round of golf with some friends and maybe do a bit of fishing but thought New Zealand\u2019s wet winter weather would probably put \u200ba dampener on both plans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like I\u2019m going to get pulled in every direction possible \u200bover the next 10 days \u2060or so. But yeah, it\u2019s definitely nice to be home,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[EPA PHOTO] Open Championship winner Ryan Fox is back home in NZ and the first thing he wanted,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,22065,63,388726,392521,755,1745,397827,2122,246277,2503,1747,10913,42357,85,1742],"class_list":["post-823730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-auckland","tag-australia","tag-bob-charles","tag-claret-jug","tag-golf","tag-golf-news","tag-kiwi-golf","tag-major-championship","tag-new-zealand-golf","tag-open-championship","tag-pga-tour","tag-royal-birkdale","tag-ryan-fox","tag-sports","tag-the-open"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}