Ryan Fox emerged from the pack on the back nine at Royal Birkdale Golf Club and sank an 11½-foot birdie putt at No 18 to win the 154th Open Championship in Southport, England, on Sunday.
The 39-year-old from New Zealand, with former Victoria Park High School pupil Dean Smith on his bag, captured his first major title by birdieing four of the final six holes thanks to a series of terrific approach shots and clutch putts.
His two-under-par 68 put him at 10-under 270 for the championship.
Cameron Young looked on for about 2½ hours after setting the clubhouse lead at nine-under 271 with a 64, the low round of the day.
The No 4 player in the world rankings will rue his only bogey of the day at the par-4 18th, where he had to punch out of a fairway bunker only to land in another bunker to the right of the green.
Sam Burns, the 54-hole leader, bogeyed three straight holes at numbers 4-6 and followed that with 12 consecutive pars as he posted a two-over 72 to place third at 8 under.
Son of former All Black rugby union international Grant Fox, the 39-year-old Fox entered the day at eight under, two off Burns’ lead, and played with him in the final pairing after a remarkable Saturday round of 62.
He was one over for his round after 12 holes but sank a 12-footer for birdie at No 13 and tapped in another at the par-4 15th.
He had an unlucky break off the tee at the par-3 15th, a difficult lie in a bunker that forced him to lay up and play for bogey. But he got the stroke right back at No 16 with a 10-foot birdie roll, bringing him back level with Young before the big finish.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler (67) and hometown favourite Tommy Fleetwood (68) were tied for fourth at seven under.
Fleetwood grew up in Southport, just down the road from Royal Birkdale; he was undone by three straight bogeys at numbers 9-11, but an improbable 73-foot birdie at the first hole and closing birdies at numbers 17-18 electrified the pro-Fleetwood crowd.
Leading scores:
-10 Ryan Fox (New Zealand) 72 68 62 68
-9 Cameron Young (US) 67 67 73 64
-8 Sam Burns (US) 73 62 65 72
-7 Scottie Scheffler (US) 68 68 70 67 Tommy Fleetwood (England) 69 67 69 68
-6 Casey Jarvis (SA) 73 67 68 66 Lucas Herbert (Australia) 70 62 71 71 Si Woo Kim (Korea Republic) 68 67 67 72
-5 Adam Scott (Australia) 72 66 71 66 Russell Henley (US) 70 71 68 66 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Denmark) 72 66 67 70 Ludvig Aberg (Sweden) 71 66 67 71 Ryan Gerard (US) 67 67 69 72
-4 Corey Conners (Canada) 71 67 71 67 Sungjae Im (Korea Republic) 66 72 69 69 Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) 72 67 67 70 Bryson DeChambeau (US) 67 68 69 72
-3 Rickie Fowler (US) 71 69 71 66 Chris Gotterup (US) 70 68 72 67 Bud Cauley (US) 68 68 73 68 Alex Noren (Sweden) 71 69 69 68 Marco Penge (England) 72 68 69 68 Collin Morikawa (US) 68 70 70 69 Jordan Smith (England) 68 70 70 69 Kristoffer Reitan (Norway) 69 71 68 69 Daniel Brown (England) 66 71 69 71 Xander Schauffele (US) 71 69 66 71.
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