WITH a thrilling victory at Royal Birkdale, Kiwi Ryan Fox joined New Zealand golfing legend Bob Charles as a winner of the Open Championship.
The 39-year-old Fox moved into contention with a record-equalling 62 on Saturday, before producing a series of clutch shots over the closing holes on Sunday to claim the coveted Claret Jug, in becoming New Zealand’s fourth major championship winner.
Chasing down Cameron Young’s 10-under par total, a mark set some two hours before the leaders were to finish their final rounds, Fox stood on the 72nd tee level with the American with the challenging 18th hole to play.
Option ‘A’ was to play safe, aiming to match Young and take his chances in a playoff, Fox elected for ‘plan B’.
“I did say to my caddie 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, which is not a very comfortable tee shot, and to hit it in the fairway and give myself a chance was huge.”
A perfectly struck nine-iron to inside four metres of the hole followed and the rest is history, Fox joining the now 90-year-old Charles, Michael Campbell and Lydia Ko as New Zealanders to win a major championship title.
Something of a late bloomer, Fox turned professional as a 25-year-old, qualified to play on the DP World Tour at 30, before becoming a PGA Tour rookie at 37.
His first significant victory came on the Australasian Tour in Perth in 2019, he would win five times in Europe and now has three PGA Tour titles on his resume following wins at the Canadian Open and at Myrtle Beach last year.
At the post event media conference, Fox reflected on his days on the Australasian Tour as pivotal to the success he was now enjoying.
“It was where I learned professional golf and everything to do, the travel that’s involved, the grind that’s involved,” he said. “It’s a really underrated tour.
“The fields in the smaller events, I always thought were really, really strong, and you felt like you had to play really well to contend at an Aussie Tour event. When I first got over to Europe, I kind of felt ready to compete with those guys purely from being on the Aussie Tour and having won a couple times.”
With Rory McIlroy heading to Kingston Heath with his green Masters jacket, the challenge for Australasian Tour officials is now to have Fox, and the Claret Jug, join him at Australia’s major events this summer.
Stats that matter
Who had the least amount of putts, drove the ball the furthest, which hole was the hardest and how much did Ryan Fox pocket for claiming his first major championship title?
See some of the stats that matter from the 154th Open Championship.
• As the ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ in winning the Open Championship, Ryan Fox pocketed a handsome US$3.2 million. Young Australian Cameron John enjoyed a nice pay day, taking home US$102.817 for his tied 28th placing.
• Making the 72nd hole birdie by Fox even more praiseworthy, the difficult par four finishing hole was ranked the hardest for the week, playing to an average of 4.345. Fox’s birdie was just the 28th made all week. The easiest hole was the 17th, the par five averaging 4.623, while giving up 195 bridies and 17 eagles.
• The eventual champion ranked fifth on the putting stats amongst those to make the cut, with Fox boasting an average of 28 putts for the week. First place was young Aussie Cam John with 27.25. And last, with 32.50 putts, it should come as no surprise Alex Fitzpatrick would finish the tournament towards the tail of the field in 71st place.
• The fairways may have been firm and bouncy, however the driving distance stats confirmed just how far the modern player hits the ball. Leading the way, Englishman Marco Penge averaged 350.7 yards per drive (approx. 315 metres) on the measured holes, which were the 14th and 17th. His longest drive for the week measured 371.5 yards on the 17th on Saturday. Not far behind was young South African Aldrich Potgieter with an average of 345.6 yards. Adam Scott was third with 341.6 yards.
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