The $501 outsider: How Ryan conquered golf's biggest stage at the British Open

Tuesday, 21 July 2026

Ryan Fox, Champion Golfer of the Year.

What a ring it has to it, and just reward for a golfer who has toiled away and seemingly improved year after year to the point where at 39 years of age, he’s now a major champion, having won the British Open at Royal Birkdale.

In becoming just the third Kiwi man to win a major, following in the footsteps of Sir Bob Charles (1963 British Open) and Michael Campbell (2005 US Open), he’s also become the oldest first-time major champion since Swede Henrik Stenson (40) in 2016.

A top amateur player for New Zealand, in the same era as Danny Lee and Ben Campbell but probably just below them in terms of amateur rankings, Fox has blossomed since turning pro in 2012.

It’s been a long and winding road, having cut his teeth in New Zealand and Australia, headed to Europe where he played on the second-tier tour, before getting his break and earning full European Tour status in 2017.

From there, he’s just got better every year, picking up regular wins - including a couple of biggies in the Alfred Dunhill Links and the BWM PGA Championship - and eventually making his way into the big league, the PGA Tour, on which he won twice last year.

With 19 worldwide wins to his name before the British Open, including those big scalps, his major championship success is no real shock.

But the way in which he achieved it probably was, particularly given his position at the halfway mark in the tournament.

He went from a share of 52nd after 36 holes to winning after 72, which was the biggest comeback ever by leaderboard position after 36 holes to win a golf major.

Here is how the week went down:-

First round

Not great. A two-over par 72 was clearly not tournament-ending, but he was outside the cutline in a share of 85th. He lost half a stroke to the field and almost two strokes putting. That saw Fox’s pre-tournament odds at the TAB of $151 blow out to $501. It would also be the end of his putting issues!

Second round

Better. A two-under 68 with five birdies and three bogeys saw Fox get back to even par and climb into a share of 52nd at the halfway mark. The cutline was +1, so he sneaked in with a shot to spare. This is where things started to pick up, as he gained more than two shots on the field and two strokes putting, which would prove to be key over the weekend. However, he was still a $501 outsider at this stage.

Third round

Moving day in golf terms and boy did Fox make a move. A major championship record-equalling eight-under 62 saw him go from 52nd into a tie for second. He turned in five-under 29, including a run of seven successive threes, and came home with four more birdies amid a lone bogey. The putter was hot, gaining almost five shots on the field putting alone, and more than eight shots on the field overall. Now, he was still not favoured, but had closed to $8 to win.

Final round

If you’re playing in the final group and card a two-under 68, that will often get the job done in a major. And so it proved. Four birdies in his last six holes screams clutch, but perhaps nothing was more clutch than the bogey in that stretch, at the par-3 15th. A horrible piece of luck saw him stymied in the greenside bunker. He played out backwards. A double bogey beckoned but he got up and down for a bogey, setting the stage for his heroics on the 18th when he nailed a 10-footer for birdie after a brilliant 9-iron to a hole that had yielded very little for everyone else. The stats show that, again, his putter was key. Almost four strokes gained on the field in the final round, when he was below field average in tee to green, approach shots and around the greens.

Pace of play, fearlessness, putting

These three things stand out as key to Fox’s success, particularly at the weekend.

His putting was exceptional. He gained more than two shots on the field with his putter across the four rounds. He gained more than two shots on second-placed Cam Young, who finished one behind.

His fearless approach paid off. Two holes showcase this to a tee.

The first was the 18th in the third round when he was shooting for a major record. Bunkered off the tee, he could have laid up and taken double bogey out of play, but likely had to settle for a bogey. He risked it, and hit the 8-iron of his life, just clearing the lip of the bunker and just making the green. He two-putted for par to shoot that record-tying 62. He likely saved a shot that would be crucial at the end.

The second was again on the 18th, in the final round. He bombed driver when others would have taken out a 3-wood and then took dead aim with his approach, again with an 8-iron, knowing birdie would win it. Forget playing for a playoff, he was out to win there and then.

'I did say to my caddie, Dean [Smith], on the tee that we were going to take it on, that I was going to try to win the tournament, and I'd live with the consequences if I stuffed it up,' Fox said. 'To go out there and execute, that drive is not a very comfortable tee shot, obviously, and to hit it in the fairway and give myself a chance was huge.'

Fox is one of the quickest players in world golf. He is well known and admired for this. As he explains, it’s natural for him and protects his game under pressure, preventing negative thoughts from overshadowing his game. His brain “just works fast”.

To highlight this, he took just 22 seconds from the moment Sam Burns holed his final putt to the moment he holed his winning putt on the 72nd hole. 22 seconds!!!! Other players would have taken minutes to line it up, looking at all angles, composing themselves for what was the biggest putt they’ll ever face. Fox stepped up, lined it up, and hit it. All in 22 seconds. In it dropped.

There is no doubt his quick pace of play helped him under the most intense pressure in the sport. He’d have been forgiven for taking his time, but he stayed true to what got him there and it paid off.

History-maker

Not only does the win cement his place in NZ golf history, joining Charles, Campbell, and Dame Lydia Ko as a major champion, it adds another chapter in his family’s remarkable sporting legacy in New Zealand.

Fox’s grandfather Merv Wallace played cricket for New Zealand and and later served as the national team , while father Grant Fox remains one of the great All Blacks first five-eighths, having been part of the World Cup-winning team in 1987.

Winners all around

Family, friends and golf fans were not the only Kiwis celebrating his success on Monday.

While Fox pocketed a hefty $5.5 million winner’s cheque, many Kiwis were also cashing in on their loyalty, having backed their compatriot to win at various stages before and during the tournament.

The TAB and betcha paid out $2 million to Fox supporters across various markets; among the bigger collects were a punter who waged $400 pre-tournament at $151 to win $60,000, another who bet $200 pre-tournament at $151 to win $30,000, and one who placed $487 midway through the third round at $51 to win $24,350.

“Fox always gets a lot of support on both TAB and betcha in a major (and usually at quite large odds) so the loyal Fox fans have well and truly been rewarded,” an Entain spokesperson said.