![\"2286782848\"\/](\"https:\/\/golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com\/content\/dam\/images\/golfdigest\/fullset\/2026\/7\/ryan-fox-claret-jug-british-open-2026-sunday-leaderboard.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.544.suffix\/1784533866081.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n[Photo: Charlie Crowhurst\/R&A]<\/p>\n
Their journeys to professional golf couldn\u2019t have been more contrasting. Lydia Ko was a child prodigy; Ryan Fox was a late bloomer who didn\u2019t turn pro until age 25. Ko rose to fame when, at 14, she became the youngest winner of a tour event and, at 18, became the youngest major winner. Fox was 39 when he won his first major at the British Open two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
But they are united by their homeland of New Zealand and by shared experiences in team rooms. Those moments began with pranks at the 2010 World Amateur Teams Championships. These days, the New Zealand bonding sessions play out on a far bigger stage\u2014at the past three Olympic games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went to World Team Ams when I was 14,\u201d Ko recalled on Wednesday at the AIG Women\u2019s British Open at Royal Lytham. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019m allowed to say it, but he may or may not have tricked me to think my Coke glass was\u2014I thought it was my Coke glass\u2014but it was red wine. He\u2019s always been the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which is why, two weeks ago, Ko was in tears watching from the US as Fox took the British Open by the scruff of the neck with weekend rounds of 62-68 at Royal Birkdale. Fox stole the claret jug from clubhouse leader Cameron Young with three-under performance in his final six holes, including a walk-off birdie on the 72nd to win by one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was on the West Coast in the U.S. so there was quite a bit of time difference,\u201d Ko said Wednesday. \u201cI went to go work out and everywhere I went I was like, \u2018Please turn on the Open.\u2019 It ended up not working on the TV, so I had my trainer turn it on my cell phone and I [also] had it on my cell phone. I can\u2019t remember my workout at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ko dashed home just before Fox hit his booming drive down the 18th fairway and his now iconic 9-iron approach and fist-pumping reaction to holing a 12-foot birdie putt. Ko\u2019s husband even dashed into the lounge room, concerned, at his wife shouting at the TV.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took an Uber ride back home; he was on the 18th, and when I saw that drive I was like so relieved but like so excited, super pumped,\u201d Ko said. \u201cI screamed as I went in [to the house]. I closed the door and I screamed. I was like, \u2018Yes!\u2019 My husband ran out and was like, \u2018What\u2019s happening?\u2019 Ten seconds later I was just crying. It was emotional for me. I can only imagine what it was like for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
[Photo: Oisin Keniry\/R&A]<\/p>\n
Of all golf pros, Ko is better placed than most to appreciate what the breakthrough major victory meant for Fox personally, and for the small population (5.3 million) of New Zealand. It meant Fox cemented his own place in sports history, having grown up being known as the son of Grant Fox, one of the country\u2019s greatest rugby players for the national All Blacks team and the grandson of a former New Zealand cricket captain.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when you grow up like that, you could easily go the other way and be really cocky and kind of take things for granted,\u201d Ko said. \u201cHe\u2019s really not like that. He\u2019s just a great guy and I think he\u2019s super humble. I was grateful that he talked so highly of me on many occasions [in press conferences], but doesn\u2019t surprise me because that\u2019s just the type of person he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fox already had two PGA Tour titles and four on the DP World Tour before the British Open, but former World No. 1 Ko remains New Zealand\u2019s most successful golfer. Her three majors include the 2024 Women\u2019s British Open at St. Andrews, and she entered the LPGA Hall of Fame with her gold medal at that year\u2019s Olympics in Paris.<\/p>\n
Despite Ko\u2019s glittering career of 23 LPGA victories, adding to her legacy still drives the 29-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I would be lying if I said it\u2019s not result-based,\u201d Ko said. \u201cEvery week I tee it up I want to play well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Including this week, at the 50th staging of the Women\u2019s British Open. It was at Royal Lytham that Sir Bob Charles became the first New Zealander\u2014and left-hander\u2014to win a major by claiming the 1963 British Open.<\/p>\n
Not to mention, it\u2019s only an hour away from Royal Birkdale. And, as it happens, Fox is back in New Zealand parading the claret jug around his homeland.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I think it would be very special [to win]; I think this is the toughest Women\u2019s Open championship venue I have ever played.\u201d Ko said. \u201cIt would be cool to channel my inner Foxy, his fearlessness, out there for me these next few days.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[Photo: Charlie Crowhurst\/R&A] Their journeys to professional golf couldn\u2019t have been more contrasting. Lydia Ko was a child…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":832913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[28634,4225,64,63,388726,755,30658,42357,85],"class_list":["post-832912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-aig-womens-open","tag-article","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bob-charles","tag-golf","tag-lydia-ko","tag-ryan-fox","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832912","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=832912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/832913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}