Forget the EGOT, your CGOTY is Ryan Fox. If Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony define the entertainment industry, Champion Golfer of the Year defines the golf season for the men. This week in Southport, England, Ryan Fox became New Zealand’s third major champion in the men’s game, following the legacy of Sir Bob Charles (1963 Open) and Michael Campbell (2005 U.S. Open). Fox took full advantage of his moment in the sun, keeping his composure throughout the day, despite being paired in the final game with the week’s hottest golfer, Sam Burns.
Fox began the week in imperfect form. He opened with 72, and squeeked his way into the weekend by one shot, despite playing his final seven holes in plus-two figures. If anyone knows what he had for dinner on Friday, or breakfast on Saturday, please share the recipe. Fox played like a man possessed on day three, shooting fifty spots up the leaderboard with a score of 62. Fox sat two shots behind third-round leader Burns, who signed for a Saturday 65. A majority of viewers might have opined that it was finally Burns’ time, and that he would collect the elusive major title that nearly came his way last month at Shinnecock Hills in New York.
As Fox and Burns arrived at tee the first to begin their march toward history, Cameron Young was already moving the needle at Royal Birkdale. One of the pre-tournament favorites, and holder of a Runner-Up Golf of the Year in 2023, Young had struggled on Saturday, and seemingly played himself out of contention. Sunday told a different story. The USA Ryder Cup leader made birdie at four of the opening quintet of holes, and turned in 29 shots. He made a succession of pars before birdies at 15 and 17 brought him to seven-under on the day, and minus-ten for the week. Young had surpassed everyone on course, and seemingly had the tournament in his grasp.
The wind on the final hole was firm off the left, and drives needed to start at the grandstand, in order to find the narrow isthmus of fairway that gave safe passage between the Scylla and Charybdis. Young’s drive leaked one yard too far, and found the final bunker. He did well to reach the green in four shots, nearly holing a bunker shot for par. Young finished on minus-nine, offering a bit of hope to the pursuers.
In yesterday’s 5 Things We Learned, I suggested that an elite putting round was due for Sam Burns. Had it come, this would be a different story. Instead, after a birdie at the second, Burns made no more. He had three consecutive bogeys at the fourth through the sixth holes, then twelve consecutive pars. Burns finished third alone at eight-under par, and had to be scratching his thick head of hair, wondering what he needed to do to finish off a major championship opportunity.
Ryan Fox, on the other hand, was electric. Sometimes the power surged, and sometimes it went dark, but he was electric. Fox also made birdie at the first, but lost his composure around the turn, making bogeys at nine and eleven. At the thirteenth hole, Fox found the proper outlet, and began to make putts. He made four birdies coming home, one bogey and one par, and holed 112 feet of putts on the day. It wasn’t the massive 150+ feet that he holed on Saturday, but it was beyond impressive for the Sunday of a major championship, in the hands of a competitor that had never been in this position before.
Down the same stretch, Burns missed four of six greens, as the fantastic iron play of the first 54 holes deserted him. He maintained composure and saved par at all of them. His two attempts at birdie, on the greens that he did hit, went astray. The day should come, when Sam Burns finally hoists a major trophy. Today, it was the son of an All Blacks fly-half, a member of the inaugural World Rugby Cup champion New Zealand team of 1987, who found the path to golf’s greatest prize.
