20 hours ago
America 250: Bobby Jones
Bobby Jones was calved connected March 17, 1902, successful Atlanta, Georgia, and became 1 of nan top amateur golfers successful history. As a teenager, he reached nan 3rd information of nan U.S. Amateur astatine property 14, showing early promise. He went connected to triumph 13 awesome championships, each arsenic an amateur, a grounds that still stands. In 1930, Jones achieved nan
NEWYou tin now perceive to Fox News articles!
Ryan Fox grounded to birdie nan easiest spread astatine Royal Birkdale while trying to triumph The Open Championship. But, erstwhile it mattered most, he birdied nan hardest spread connected nan people to seizure nan Claret Jug.
Tied pinch clubhouse leader Cameron Young astatine 9-under, nan 39-year-old New Zealander needed a birdie connected No. 18 to triumph nan tourney aft failing to birdie nan par-5 17th hole.
OUTKICK IS NOW ON THE FOX NEWS APP: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
After pounding his thrust down nan last fairway, Fox deed his attack to conscionable wrong 12 feet and past dripped his birdie putt into nan separator of nan cup to triumph nan 154th Open Championship astatine Royal Birkdale. He vanished astatine 10-under, 1 changeable up of Young and 2 clear of 54-hole leader Sam Burns.
Ryan Fox celebrates aft making birdie connected 18 to triumph The 154th Open Championship astatine Royal Birkdale. (Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
But his triumph mightiness mean much for world play than thing else.
Entering nan last round, everyone astatine Royal Birkdale was chasing American Sam Burns, who was searching for his first awesome title victory.
Burns, astatine 10-under, led Fox and South Korea's Si Woo Kim by 2 shots. American Ryan Gerard and Australian Lucas Herbert were 3 shots back, while large names for illustration Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Åberg sat respective shots backmost but were lurking.
RORY MCILROY BLASTS BRYSON DECHAMBEAU FOR HOLDING THE OPEN ‘HOSTAGE’ OVER PENALTY CHAOS: ‘IT IS PERFORMATIVE’
Burns earned that advantage pinch 1 of nan champion two-round stretches successful awesome title history.
After opening nan tourney pinch a three-over 73, Burns tied nan men’s awesome grounds pinch an eight-under 62 connected Friday. He followed that pinch a five-under 65 successful nan 3rd round, giving him a 127 full complete 36 holes, nan lowest people crossed consecutive rounds successful men’s awesome title history.
And Burns wasn’t unsocial successful going historically low.
Herbert besides changeable 62 connected Friday, while Fox matched nan number connected Saturday to rocket 50 spots up nan leaderboard and gain a spot alongside Burns successful Sunday’s last pairing. Three players had tied nan awesome title scoring grounds complete a span of 2 days astatine Royal Birkdale.
Burns besides knew amended than astir really quickly a promising major-championship Sunday could move into heartbreak.
Sam Burns came adjacent again, but fell conscionable short astatine different awesome championship. (David Davies/PA Images)
He held nan 54-hole lead astatine nan 2025 U.S. Open astatine Oakmont earlier shooting a final-round 78 and falling into a necktie for seventh. One twelvemonth later, Burns astir completed a furious Sunday comeback astatine Shinnecock Hills, but his birdie putt connected nan 72nd spread stopped inches short and near him 1 changeable down eventual champion Wyndham Clark.
Now, Burns had different opportunity.
And he initially appeared fresh to return power of nan tournament.
The 29-year-old American birdied nan 2nd spread to scope 11-under and widen his advantage.
Then everything changed.
Burns made 3 consecutive bogeys astatine Nos. 4, 5 and 6, coughing up his full lead successful a span of 3 holes. The subordinate who began Sunday pinch a two-shot lead abruptly recovered himself scrambling to stay successful contention.
And while Burns stumbled, different American came charging from nan mediate of nan pack.
Cam Young, for illustration Burns, was already acquainted pinch awesome title heartbreak. He vanished 1 changeable down Cameron Smith astatine nan 2022 Open Championship contempt shooting a final-round 65 and making eagle connected nan 72nd hole.
Young began nan last information 7 shots disconnected nan lead, seemingly retired of contention, but instantly turned himself into a facet pinch a spectacular front-nine 29. He made 4 birdies complete his first 5 holes and yet reached 10-under pinch different birdie astatine nan 17th.
Then came trouble.
Young drove into a fairway bunker connected nan last spread and grounded to clear its steep look pinch his 2nd shot. He yet escaped pinch a bogey, but still posted an unthinkable six-under 64 to return nan clubhouse lead astatine nine-under.
But past Ryan Fox came charging.
Fox birdied nan 13th and 14th holes to drawback Young astatine nine-under. The New Zealander caught a unspeakable break pinch his tee changeable astatine nan recently redesigned par-3 15th and couldn’t prevention par. However, he bounced correct backmost pinch a birdie astatine No. 16 to necktie Young again.
Young recovered himself successful nan unenviable position of sitting astir and conscionable waiting to spot if his people was bully enough.
Cameron Young and his caddie, Kyle Sterbinsky, look connected during nan last information of The Open Championship astatine Royal Birkdale. (Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR)
Fox caught different bad break connected nan par-5 17th hole. He elected to deed an robust disconnected nan tee to debar nan fairway bunkers, but his shot managed to creep into 1 of those bunkers aft rolling retired to complete 320 yards. He still managed to springiness himself a bully birdie look, but missed to enactment tied.
Burns besides grounded to make birdie connected No. 17, nan spread that played nan easiest during Sunday's last round. That meant that Fox was tied pinch Young and Burns was 1 changeable backmost pinch nan hardest spread connected nan course, nan par-4 18th, looming.
Fox made it look thing but difficult, blasting his tee changeable down nan mediate of nan fairway earlier sticking an robust to wrong 12 feet and giving himself a birdie putt to triumph nan Open.
Burns played nan spread well, too, but not good enough. His attack came to remainder conscionable wrong 30 feet from nan cup and nan American couldn't convert, adding different adjacent telephone to his awesome title résumé.
That group nan shape for Fox. Make nan putt, triumph The Open. Miss and spell to a playoff against Cam Young.
And he buried it to present different heartbreak for Young and different heartbreak to American golf.
Because Sunday’s last information was astir overmuch much than whether Burns, Young aliases different contender would locomotion distant pinch nan Claret Jug.
It was besides astir whether American play had genuinely started to return backmost power of nan sport.
Not agelong ago, that power appeared absolute.
Beginning pinch Brooks Koepka’s triumph astatine nan 2023 PGA Championship, Americans won 7 consecutive men’s majors. Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau each followed Koepka during a tally that ended pinch Schauffele completing an American expanse of nan 2024 fields astatine Royal Troon.
Rory McIlroy yet ended nan streak pinch his melodramatic breakthrough astatine nan 2025 Masters.
Even then, it hardly felt for illustration nan equilibrium of powerfulness had changed.
Scheffler won nan PGA Championship astatine Quail Hollow. J.J. Spaun captured nan U.S. Open astatine Oakmont. Scheffler past dominated The Open astatine Royal Portrush.
Americans had won 10 of 11 awesome championships.
It wasn’t a rivalry astatine that point. It was domination.
Then nan tide turned.
Tommy Fleetwood yet earned his first PGA Tour triumph by winning nan 2025 Tour Championship and FedEx Cup.
One period later, Europe embarrassed nan United States connected American ungraded astatine nan Ryder Cup.
The last score, 15-13, made nan title look acold person than it really was. Europe entered Sunday singles pinch an 11½-4½ advantage and had already reduced nan last convention to small much than a hopeless American effort to debar complete humiliation.
European players observe pinch nan trophy aft winning nan 2025 Ryder Cup astatine Bethpage Black. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Things didn’t amended erstwhile nan almanac flipped to 2026.
McIlroy successfully defended his Masters title, and England’s Aaron Rai followed pinch his first awesome title triumph astatine nan PGA Championship. European golfers had won nan first 2 fields of nan year.
Wyndham Clark yet stopped nan bleeding by winning his 2nd U.S. Open astatine Shinnecock Hills.
WYNDHAM CLARK HANDLED HIS U.S. OPEN WIN WITH THE PERFECT ATTITUDE TO WIN BACK GOLF FANS
An American triumph astatine Royal Birkdale would springiness U.S. golfers nan last 2 awesome championships of nan play and supply existent grounds that nan momentum had begun shifting back.
A non-American triumph would time off Clark arsenic nan only U.S. awesome champion of 2026, marking nan first clip since 2014 that Americans won conscionable 1 of nan 4 men’s majors.
And nan second is what happened erstwhile Ryan Fox became conscionable nan 2nd New Zealander to triumph The Open and nan 3rd New Zealander to triumph a men’s awesome play championship.
Clark’s U.S. Open triumph stands arsenic nan only American awesome title triumph of nan season, nan first clip since 2014 that American men grounded to triumph astatine slightest 2 awesome tournaments.
Europe embarrassed nan United States astatine Bethpage. Fleetwood took nan FedEx Cup. European players captured nan Masters and PGA Championship. And a non-American ended nan play by lifting nan Claret Jug astatine Royal Birkdale.
It added up to nan roughest awesome title play for American play successful 12 years.
And nan next Ryder Cup is being played astatine Adare Manor successful Ireland, wherever nan United States will effort to triumph connected European ungraded for nan first clip since 1993.
Based connected nan past year, there’s small logic to judge that drought is astir to end.
Dan Zaksheske is simply a newsman astatine OutKick.
