RYAN FOX – 154th OPEN CHAMPION 

New Open Champion Ryan Fox – Image Gett

Final-Round Notes – Sunday, July 19, 2026

Weather: Mostly sunny. High of 68. Wind NW 10-15 mph, gusts up to 21 mph.

 Final Leaderboard

Ryan Fox (Winner/-10)

• Earns his third PGA TOUR title and first major championship in his 94th start on TOUR at the age of 39 years, 5 months, 27 days

• Marks his first top-10 in his 29^th major championship start (previous best: T16/2019 Open Championship)

• Win comes in his 10th Open Championship appearance; previously had two top-25s (T16/2019, T25/2024)

• Becomes the second player from New Zealand to win The Open Championship (Bob Charles/1963/Royal Lytham & St Annes)

• Becomes the 13^th consecutive first-time winner of the event, currently the longest streak of first-time winners at The Open (starting with Phil Mickelson in 2013)

• Earns 750 FedExCup points and moves from No. 59 to No. 21 in the FedExCup standings; moves from No. 56 to No. 22 in the Official World Golf Ranking

• World No. 56 becomes the lowest-ranked winner of The Open since Darren Clarke in 2011 (No. 111)

• 270 marks personal-best 72-hole score in a major championship (previous 274: 2018 PGA Championship/finished T27)

• Matches tournament record for the final 36 holes of 130 strokes (Tom Watson/1977, Ian Baker-Finch/1991, Anders Forsbrand/1994, Marc Leishman/2022)

• Becomes the first player to birdie the final hole of The Open Championship and win since Cameron Smith (2022)

• Win marks second top-10 in 16 starts this season (other: T8/RBC Canadian Open)

• PGA TOUR wins (3): 2025 ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, 2025 RBC Canadian Open, 2026 Open Championship

Come-From-Behind Victory

• Was T85 following an opening-round 72, seven strokes back

• T85 marks the lowest position on the leaderboard through 18 holes for a winner at The Open (previous: Mark O’Meara/1998/T62)

• Becomes the sixth Open Championship winner to come back from seven or more strokes after 18 holes:

  • 11 strokes: Harry Vardon (1896)

  • Eight strokes: George Duncan (1920), Seve Ballesteros (1979)

  • Seven strokes: Gary Player (1959), Mark O’Meara (1998), Ryan Fox (2026)

• Was T52 through 36 holes, eight strokes back; marks the lowest position on the leaderboard through 36 holes for a winner at The Open (previous: David Duval/2001/T35)

• Becomes the third Open Championship winner to come back from eight or more strokes after 36 holes (George Duncan/1920/13 strokes, Gary Player/1959/8 strokes)

18-Hole Scoring Record at a Major Championship

• Becomes the second player to record a 62 in a major championship and win (Xander Schauffele/2024 PGA Championship)

• Becomes the first Open Championship winner with a round of 62

• Becomes the fourth winner of The Open with a round of 63 or lower

  • Greg Norman (63/R2/1986)

  • Henrik Stenson (63/R4/2016)

  • Shane Lowry (63/R3/2019)

18-hole scoring record in major championships

 Miscellaneous Notes

• Four different countries are represented among the four major winners this season, marking the second time (2010):

  • Rory McIlroy/Masters Tournament/Northern Ireland

  • Aaron Rai/PGA Championship/England

  • Wyndham Clark/U.S. Open/United States

  • Ryan Fox/The Open Championship/New Zealand

• Starting the final round at T20, seven strokes behind Sam Burns, reigning PLAYERS Championship winner Cameron Young (2nd/-9) records the round of the day with a 64 and earns eighth runner-up finish on TOUR and second at The Open Championship (2022); was seeking to join Jack Nicklaus (1978) and Cameron Smith (2022) as players that have won THE PLAYERS and The Open in the same season

• 54-hole leader Sam Burns (3^rd/-8) records his second top-three finish in a major championship this season (2^nd/2026 U.S. Open); has top-10 finishes in five of his last 10 and had one top-25 finish in his first 16 major starts (2022 PGA Championship/T20)

• World No. 1 and 20-time PGA TOUR winner Scottie Scheffler finishes T4 (-7) in bid to become the first player to successfully defend at The Open since Padraig Harrington (2008); has 19 top-10 finishes in 29 major championship starts

• Making his 12th Open Championship appearance, Southport, England native and reigning FedExCup champion Tommy Fleetwood (T4/-7) records his eighth top-10 in a major championship and first since the 2024 Masters Tournament (T3); with rounds of 69-67-69-68, becomes the eighth player in tournament history and first at Royal Birkdale to score all four rounds under 70 and not win