Ryan Fox Wins His First Major Championship at Royal Birkdale
Ryan Fox won his first-ever major championship at Royal Birkdale this week, earning the third victory of his PGA Tour career.
Fox had a dominant weekend en route to his third career victory and first major title. A moving-day 62 put him in position to chase down both Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns. Fox entered Sunday two shots behind Burns, who unfortunately has seemed to come up short when the lights have been the brightest over the past year or so.
The difference on Sunday? Fox made five birdies compared to Burns’ lone birdie, while both players made the same number of bogeys. Fox’s ability to create birdie opportunities and capitalize on them was the clear difference. On the 18th hole, needing a birdie to avoid a playoff, he hit an excellent approach shot to inside 10 feet and converted to seal the victory. Burns, on the other hand, was consistently missing left and right, forcing himself to scramble for pars rather than creating birdie chances.
Fox has quietly turned himself into one of the hottest players in golf, with two victories in 2025. His previous wins at the OneFlight Classic and the Canadian Open both came in playoffs. Had he not birdied the 18th hole at Royal Birkdale, he would have been headed for yet another playoff, this time against Cameron Young. His OneFlight Classic victory came in a one-hole, three-man playoff against Mackenzie Hughes and Harry Higgs. His Canadian Open victory required a four-hole playoff against none other than Sam Burns, his final-round playing partner at The Open. It seems fitting that his first victory without a playoff came in a major championship, and this win is sure to move him significantly up the Official World Golf Ranking.
Cameron Young was definitely the best story outside of Ryan Fox’s victory. Starting the final round at 3-under, Young fired a 6-under 64 that included birdies on four of his first five holes, including three consecutive birdies to begin his round. During his post-round interview, he was asked when he felt he was capable of producing a round like that. He explained that the night before he focused on letting go of his frustrations and entered Sunday committed to simply hitting quality golf shots. That approach was evident as he hit greens early and often. His bogey on the 18th hole was unfortunate, but considering the difficult greenside bunker shot he faced, it was still a quality effort. He certainly showed why he is currently the fourth-ranked golfer in the world and could very well move up another spot following this performance.
Sam Burns really struggled to play even-par golf on Sunday, posting a 2-over front nine. Bogeys on holes 4, 5, and 6 put a damper on what had started as a promising round after his birdie on the 2nd hole. Failing to save par consistently proved costly. With Cameron Young and Si Woo Kim applying pressure on the leaderboard, Burns appeared to press and struggled to keep pace. It’s surprising that one of the best putters on Tour had difficulty protecting a two-shot lead heading into Sunday, especially after firing a brilliant 62 in the second round. Ironically, one of the highlights of his round was a magnificent long-range par save on the 14th hole. It simply shows that you have to be sharp for all four rounds to win a major championship.
Bryson DeChambeau’s penalty once again made him a polarizing figure, as the debate continues over whether the ruling should have resulted in a two-stroke penalty. Be sure to read @landonk ‘s article on Rory McIlroy, where he also discusses the Tour’s reaction to Bryson’s outburst following the ruling. Personally, I lean toward agreeing with the penalty, but I will say it sometimes feels as though players who previously competed on LIV Golf receive harsher treatment than PGA Tour players. Ultimately, though, the nail in the coffin was Sunday’s triple bogey on the 11th hole. DeChambeau played a fairly conservative front nine but never found any momentum, making pars on every hole except the 9th, where he made bogey. Between the two-stroke penalty and the triple bogey, those five strokes were the difference between finishing tied for second and tied for fourteenth. The margins at major championships are incredibly thin, and Bryson seemed distracted throughout the week. From emphasizing strategy after Round 1, firing back at Nick Faldo and then dealing with the penalty controversy, it never felt like his full focus was on winning the championship. Whether or not you agree with the ruling, majors are not won on Thursday or Friday—they’re won on the weekend.
How Did Our Experts Do?
Beginning with this tournament, we’re introducing a points system to rank our experts’ picks throughout the season:
- 4 points – Correct winner
- 3 points – Best finish among our experts
- 2 points – Second-best finish
- 1 point – Last place
Smith (1-0-0) — 3 Points
@bigolryan99 was our top expert this week. While his pick of Tommy Fleetwood didn’t win, Fleetwood still finished tied for fourth. What held Tommy back? He never produced a breakout round. He was remarkably consistent, shooting between 67 and 69 in all four rounds. The players who seriously contended all had one exceptional round: Cameron Young shot 64 on Sunday, Sam Burns posted a 62 in Round 2, and Ryan Fox carded a 62 in Round 3. Fleetwood never shot better than 3-under in any round. Although he birdied two of his final nine holes, the two bogeys early on the back nine ultimately prevented him from making a real charge.
Rosati (0-1-0) — 2 Points
While I had my reasons, looking back it’s fair to say I was reaching with Xander Schauffele. He always seems to elevate his game at majors, so I thought he’d make a run. He barely made the cut after shooting even par through Friday, with his lone bright spot being a 66 on Saturday that moved him within six shots of the lead. Unfortunately, he followed that with a 71 on Sunday and never truly got into contention. Like many of the players near the top, he had one solid round, but unlike Fox, Burns, or Young, he couldn’t sustain it. His biggest issue this week was making too many bogeys, recording three bogeys compared to just two birdies in the final round. Hopefully, Schauffele can return to his dominant form in the coming weeks.
Hutson (0-0-1) — 1 Point
In @jhutty‘s defense, Rory McIlroy had been playing excellent golf recently and had performed well in Europe, so I strongly considered picking him myself. The issue was similar to Fleetwood’s—he never had a breakout round. It also felt like Rory spent more time discussing Bryson DeChambeau’s comments, calling them “performative,” than focusing on winning another major championship. His best round was a 3-under in Round 2, while Rounds 1 and 4 were both over par, which is very uncharacteristic for him. A double bogey on the 16th hole during the final round summed up his week: too many bogeys and not enough birdies to offset them. To put it into perspective, he made seven fewer birdies than tournament winner Ryan Fox. Going forward, he’ll need to play slightly safer golf while taking better advantage of the excellent drives he continues to hit.
Looking Ahead
Next week, I’ll have you covered at the 3M Open from TPC Twin Cities. Be sure to keep an eye on easysportz.com early next week for my tournament preview, with a full recap coming Sunday night or Monday morning.
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