Ryan Fox was 0-for-29 in major championship starts walking into Sunday at Royal Birkdale. Didn't matter. The 39-year-old Kiwi stared down a leaderboard packed with Cameron Young and Sam Burns and just kept making the shots that mattered, capped by a dagger approach on 18 that left him a putt to win the whole thing.
RYAN FOX STICKS IT ON 18. 12 FEET TO WIN THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP.
He drained it. 10-under, one shot clear of Young, two clear of Burns, and just like that Fox became just the third New Zealander ever to win a men's major. The reaction from the Barstool golf crew was instant and it was pure — Big Cat called it a putt he "just stepped up and drilled," and Frankie Borrelli marveled that Fox looked like a guy with zero thoughts in his head coming down the stretch, sprinting off 18 like he couldn't believe it either.
Holy shit what a run from Ryan Fox I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy so dialed in like that. He was chasing down those golf balls. I don’t think he had a single thought before any of those shots coming down the stretch. He even ran off the 18th after winning! Guy is moving!
The story didn't stop at the trophy ceremony. Fox's post-round FaceTime call to his family, telling them "you asked me to bring a trophy home, and I am," turned into the moment of the week — the kind of clip that hits different than any highlight reel. He'd reportedly told his kids the night before he'd try to bring something back, and the Claret Jug is about as good as it gets.
“You asked me to bring a trophy home, and I am.” -Ryan Fox to his family on FaceTime after his Open win
By Monday, Fox was already onto the next chapter — flying home commercial with the actual Claret Jug stuffed in the overhead bin, which is either the most relatable or most terrifying thing a major champion has done all year.
Ryan Fox is flying home with the Claret Jug in the overhead bin 💀
Sam Burns, meanwhile, is building quite the resume of major heartbreak — Mintzy pointed out he's now come up empty as a betting favorite at the 2025 US Open, the 2026 Masters, the 2026 US Open, and now this Open, a run that would spin anyone's head. But the bigger sideshow all week has been Bryson DeChambeau, who got hit with a two-shot penalty and reportedly threatened to walk before Rory McIlroy went scorched-earth on him in his press conference, calling his antics "performative" and saying the tournament got held hostage waiting on him. Dave Portnoy weighed in on Wake Up Barstool, backing Rory's read completely.
If you don’t like Rory, that’s fine, but I don’t think he’s performative. Everything about Bryson is a gigantic act.
Two very different stories out of the same Open — one guy who nobody outside golf diehards could pick out of a lineup a week ago now walking through airports with a piece of history, and one guy who can't stop making himself the headline for the wrong reasons. Fox earned $3.2 million and a permanent invite to every major for the rest of his career; Bryson earned another round of Rory side-eye. Advantage: the Kiwi with the trophy in the overhead bin.