Key events<\/p>\n
Report, reaction and analysisShare<\/a><\/p>\n Congratulations to Ryan Fox; commiserations to Cameron Young and Sam Burns; and thank you, dear reader, for following this live blog.<\/p>\n -10: Ryan Fox Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.00 EDT<\/p>\n \u2026 but this is all about Ryan Fox, whose Open win is right up there with his dad Grant winning the 1987 Rugby World Cup! Well, maybe you\u2019ll get an argument from one or two traditionalists back home in New Zealand, but each to their own. He has, after all, held off the current world number one, the current Players champion, and the local hero to claim golf\u2019s oldest prize. He\u2019s become just the fourth Kiwi to win a major championship, after Bob Charles (1963 Open), Michael Campbell (2005 US Open) and Lydia Ko (2015 Evian, 2016 Chevron and 2024 Women\u2019s Open). That is not bad company to be keeping!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Tommy Fleetwood talks to Sky Sports about his reception coming up 18. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to describe how cool that is, walking down 18 \u2026 to birdie the last was pretty special \u2026 whether I made 10 or three, it was really cool \u2026 I can\u2019t ask for any more \u2026 it\u2019s been truly amazing \u2026 I still dream of winning the Open, of course I do, and I\u2019ll keep chasing that \u2026 but what people have given me surpassed any dream that I could imagine \u2026 they were amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here\u2019s how impressive Ryan Fox was in claiming the Claret Jug in such proactive style with birdie at the last. The 18th was statistically the hardest hole of the week, with a stroke average of 4.345; it had only been birdied 27 previous times during this championship, and only four times previously today.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.17 EDT<\/p>\n Fox has also equalled the record over the final 36 holes. He took 130 strokes, matching the achievements of Tom Watson in 1977, Ian Baker-Finch in 1991, Anders Forsbrand in 1994 and Marc Leishman in 2022.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Fox has also broken the record for lowest position on the leaderboard after the second round before coming back to win. He was tied 52nd after Friday, eight behind the leader Lucas Herbert. The previous record was held by David Duval, who came back from a tie for 35th at Lytham in 2001.<\/p>\n Ryan Fox kisses the Claret Jug on the 18th. Photograph: Phil Noble\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.25 EDT<\/p>\n Fox then sets about hoisting the Claret Jug properly for the cameras, before having a word with Sky Sports. \u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable to be honest \u2026 I still don\u2019t know what to think \u2026 my nerves are all over the place \u2026 I\u2019m not quite sure how I hit that putt on 18 \u2026 it\u2019s a dream come true \u2026 looking at this trophy now, it\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve seen it up close, so it\u2019s pretty amazing \u2026 I said to my caddie through six or eight holes, I feel a lot better than I thought I would feel right now \u2026 played really solid early and hit some great shots down the stretch \u2026 I stood on the [18th] tee and said to my caddie, we\u2019re gonna try to win this \u2026 I hit two perfect shots \u2026 I\u2019m not sure how I hit the putt, my hands were all over the place \u2026 I was just trying to get it towards the hole somewhere \u2026 it\u2019s surreal \u2026 champion golfer of the year has a pretty good ring to it \u2026 it\u2019s always been see a shot, hit a shot \u2026 as soon as I start thinking about it too much then some bad stuff creeps in \u2026 I just picked my shot and hit it \u2026 thankfully I kinda executed them pretty well!\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Time for Ryan Fox\u2019s speech. \u201cAw wow! \u2026 I don\u2019t really know what to think at the moment \u2026 my wife and kids are in Florida at the moment \u2026 I spoke to my kids last night and they said \u2018bring back the trophy\u2019 and I think that\u2019s a pretty cool one to bring back for them! \u2026 the English weather was fantastic \u2026 the support was amazing \u2026 this is pretty cool \u2026 thank you very much!\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The trophy presentation. The R&A chief executive Mark Darbon carries the Claret Jug onto the 18th green, that beautiful Art Deco clubhouse the backdrop. Darbon announces the results in the time-honoured style: \u201cWith a score of 270, the winner of the gold medal and the champion golfer of the year: Ryan Fox!\u201d At which point Fox enters from behind the grandstand, through a guard of honour, and soaks up the applause, before being handed the famous old jug and raising it carefully, gracefully to the sky!<\/p>\n Ryan Fox kisses the trophy after his victory. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The GuardianShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.24 EDT<\/p>\n Ryan Fox has broken the record for winning from the lowest position on the leaderboard after the first round. He was tied for 85th on Thursday, seven behind the 18-hole leader Jackson Suber. The previous record was held by Mark O\u2019Meara, who was tied 62nd after 18 holes in 1998 \u2026 also at Royal Birkdale.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n You simply have to hand it to Ryan Fox. A final round of 68. Four birdies in the last six holes. During that run, he didn\u2019t have the luck: terribly unfortunate lies in bunkers at 15 and 17. But he took his medicine at 15, and stayed firm on 17, and this is his reward. Despite having to settle for that bogey on 15, he then seized the day with magnificent approaches at 16 and 18, setting up a pair of birdies that ripped the Claret Jug from Cameron Young\u2019s grip. A deserved win \u2026 though hats off to Young for a final round of 64 that took this whole championship to the wire. Young didn\u2019t lose it on the last hole today; it was the back nine yesterday that did for him. Oh, and Fox\u2019s excellence over the weekend. He was nowhere going into Saturday, having only just survived the cut. A record-equalling 62, followed by today\u2019s carpe-diem closing run of birdies, is some weekend\u2019s work. He\u2019s the new Open champion, and a very popular one!<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Ryan Fox wins the Open!<\/p>\n Ryan Fox wastes no time in taking aim \u2026 and rolls his birdie putt straight into the cup! He raises both arms in the air as the gallery whoop and holler! Sam Burns gives him a hug, and New Zealand have their second Open champion, 63 years after the great Bob Charles!<\/p>\n -10: Fox (F) Ryan Fox celebrates victory on the 18th green. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The GuardianShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.38 EDT<\/p>\n Both players stalk the green, lining up their putts. The biggest putts in their lives. Sam Burns up first \u2026 and the right-to-left slider misses on the right. His race is run. He tidies up for par, a 72, and once again he\u2019s failed to convert at 54-hole lead into glory. Ah well, he\u2019s got a new baby to go home to.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ryan Fox and Sam Burns stride up the last, both getting their flowers from the gallery. They\u2019ve both shot 62 this week. Outstanding. Meanwhile Cameron Young pounds drives on the practice range. The tension is palpable.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ryan Fox will have a putt to win the Open! He swishes his eight iron straight at the flag, the ball landing softly, 12 feet shy of the pin. Sam Burns makes the dancefloor in regulation too, though he\u2019s got to make a right-to-left swinger from the best part of 30 yards if he\u2019s to have a chance of a play-off, which is the best he can do.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.33 EDT<\/p>\n Bogey at the last for Kim Si-woo, which is an awful shame. So close to becoming the first Korean winner of the Open. But in the end, it\u2019s an underwhelming 72, and he\u2019s -6.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ryan Fox decides that he\u2019s not going to die wondering. He absolutely creams his drive down the middle of 18. Sam Burns has no other option, and powers one down himself. They\u2019re both in prime position. All sorts of possibilities opening up ahead. The final round of the Open Championship, everyone. This is epic.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A 71 for Lucas Herbert. He\u2019ll finish the week at -6, but will always have that 62. A 71 for his playing partner Ludvig \u00c5berg too, and he ends up at -5. It\u2019ll be the Swede\u2019s second top-ten finish at a major this year, following his tie for fourth at the PGA. Just 26, his time will surely come.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Fox puts for the lead \u2026 but the ball dribbles off to the right. Not so straight after all. He walks off with par, shaking his head. Par for Burns, who now has to birdie the last in the hope of forcing a play-off. Fox just needs par on 18 \u2026 or birdie for the Claret Jug! What an Open! This is going right down to the wire!<\/p>\n -9: Young (F), Fox (17) Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ryan Fox is forced to whip his ball out of the bunker while standing on the fairway, leaning in. He catches plenty of the ball and advances it up the hole. Good core strength, sir. He then wedges to ten feet, and will have a straight uphill putt for birdie and the outright lead. In the meantime, Sam Burns, having pulled his second to the left, can\u2019t wedge close and he\u2019ll have to make to do with par. He wears the look of a man who knows his race is run.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Kim Si-woo hits his chip from the back of 17 a little fat. He can\u2019t make the 20-footer he leaves himself, and par means his race is almost certainly run. He\u2019d have to hole his second on 18 to tie with Cameron Young in the clubhouse. He\u2019s -7, and that fairway wood in was a hell of a shot. Not quite up there with Padraig Harrington back in the day, but it was something to witness nonetheless. An unlucky hard bounce. The small margins.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Bryson DeChambeau ends the week with a 72. He\u2019s -4 overall. It promised so much, but Grassdance\u2122 took the wind out of his sails, one way or another. Some may blame the R&A, others the player himself. But here we are. At least he made the cut, which he couldn\u2019t manage in any of this year\u2019s other majors. And the love spills down from the stand. It\u2019s not quite Tommy levels, but the gallery appreciates the man\u2019s star quality. He stops to sign a couple of golf balls as well. We\u2019d miss him if he wasn\u2019t here.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ryan Fox takes an iron for safety on 17 \u2026 but a mix of adrenaline and the conditions take his ball into the fairway bunker 325 yards on the right! It\u2019s only just toppled in, too, and he may have another almost impossible stance. What awful luck Fox is having. Sam Burns crashes his drive past that bunker and into the rough, but the lie looks reasonable. Meanwhile up the hole, Kim Si-woo padraigs a fairway wood into the green, a gentle fade in, but the ball keeps going and falls off the back. That\u2019s so unfortunate, as well.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ryan Fox walks in his birdie putt! That\u2019s his third in four holes, and it\u2019s happening for the veteran Kiwi at exactly the right time! Par for Sam Burns, who makes a fine sandy save. And with Lucas Herbert having bogeyed 17 after sending his tee shot into the thick rubbish down the left for the second day in a row, it looks like we\u2019ve whittled it all down to four players: Young, Fox, Burns and Kim. It\u2019s on!<\/p>\n -9: Young (F), Fox (16) Share<\/a><\/p>\n Sam Burns attacks the flag on 16 with his second. He bites off too much. His ball slams into the bunker. Over to Ryan Fox. \u201cAw please be right!\u201d And it is right! A wedge, pin high from 150 yards to ten feet. A big chance to reclaim a share of the lead. Just before those shots, Kim Si-woo was possibly kissing goodbye to his hopes, having missed the green at 16 to the right, from where he was unable to get up and down. He\u2019s -7.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.02 EDT<\/p>\n A 68 for local hero Tommy Fleetwood<\/p>\n Tommy Fleetwood walks up the last, and gets the ovation he so richly deserved. The local hero\u2019s dream wasn\u2019t meant to be, but everyone loves Tommy whatever. He smiles broadly, puts his hand on his heart, then stops a moment to soak it all in. He makes a valedictory birdie for a 68, having knocked his final approach from 170 yards to ten feet, and ends the week at -7. More of your bedlam. Bedlam in the purest form. Imagine what it would have been like had he won? No need, it\u2019d have been exactly like this. They love Tommy whatever. Is there anyone with an interest in golf who doesn\u2019t? It\u2019s just not possible. Next year, somewhere, somehow \u2026 if the golfing gods listen to their people, that major\u2019s a-coming.<\/p>\n Tommy Fleetwood of England (left) and caddie Ian Finnis embrace on the 18th green. Photograph: Peter Byrne\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.13 EDT<\/p>\n Sam Burns nearly makes his birdie putt \u2026 but it stays stubbornly out on the right lip. \u201cHow\u2019s that stayed out?!\u201d he mouths. Par will do on a very difficult hole \u2026 as Ryan Fox\u2019s fate illustrates. He tidies up for bogey, and to be fair that\u2019s sensational course management. There was no point risking everything on a high-tariff wonder shot. He\u2019s taken his medicine, and he\u2019s still in the mix. But he\u2019s not still in the lead.<\/p>\n -9: Young (F) Share<\/a><\/p>\n Fox doesn\u2019t faff about. He knows there\u2019s nothing to be gained in trying to be clever, so just accepts his fate. All he can do is play his ball back down the hole, and see what transpires from there. Try anything clever and he could be in a Thomas-Bjorn-infused world of pain. And it\u2019s the right decision, because he chips up from 50 yards to six feet, and will have a good chance to limit the damage to bogey.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ryan Fox takes the flag on at the par-three 15th. He\u2019s on line \u2026 but doesn\u2019t have the distance. The ball smacks into the face of the big revetted bunker \u2026 and pings back into the trap, all the way back, resting up against the front edge. At first glance, he might not have any backswing whatsoever. That\u2019s an awful break for Fox, just as he\u2019d scaled the heights. Sam Burns lands his tee shot about a yard further, onto the green, and will have a 20-foot look at birdie. The small margins. Oh my.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Kim Si-woo nearly drains a 30-footer across 15 for birdie. It shaves the right-hand edge of the cup. So close to joining Cameron Young in the lead. But Ryan Fox makes it! Whoops all around as the popular Kiwi \u2013 who doesn\u2019t have a single top-ten finish at a major to his name \u2013 takes a step closer to the Claret Jug!<\/p>\n -9: Young (F), Fox (14) Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ryan Fox is in the fescue to the left of 14. But he\u2019s caught a good lie, and takes advantage of his luck, clipping confidently onto the green and rolling out to a couple of feet. Birdie incoming! Sam Burns however only just smacks his ball out of the bunker. He doesn\u2019t commit to the stroke, and is fortunate the ball doesn\u2019t topple back into the sand. He\u2019s now got two putts from distance for par, in the knowledge that his playing partner will almost certainly be joining Cameron Young at the top.<\/p>\n Ryan Fox lines up his putt on the 14th green. Photograph: Andy Buchanan\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.43 EDT<\/p>\n Ryan Fox splits the fairway on the par-five 14th \u2026 then pulls his fairway wood over the back-left of the green. Sam Burns is also hitting his second from prime real estate \u2026 but his ball trickles into the pot bunker to the left of the green. Birdies still not beyond the realms, with the pin in an accessible position thanks to the contouring of the green, but the next shots are big.<\/p>\n
-9: Cameron Young
-8: Sam Burns
-7: Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood
-6: Casey Jarvis, Lucas Herbert, Kim Si-woo
-5: Adam Scott, Russell Henley, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Ludvig \u00c5berg, Ryan Gerard
-4: Corey Conners, Im Sung-jae, Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau<\/p>\n
-9: Young (F)
-8: Burns (F)<\/p>\n
-8: Burns (17)<\/p>\n
-8: Burns (16)
-7: Scheffler (F), Fleetwood (F), Kim (16)<\/p>\n
-8: Kim (15), Fox (15), Burns (15)
-7: Scheffler (F), Herbert (16)<\/p>\n
-8: Kim (15), Burns (14)
-7: Scheffler (F), Herbert (15)<\/p>\n