Ryan Fox wins Open Championship: How life will change for golf’s newest major champion
Ryan Fox’s life changed with a 3.5m putt that glided over the front left edge and fell to the bottom of the cup on the final hole of the Open Championship.
A brilliant birdie on the second-hardest hole at England’s Royal Birkdale Golf Club to win his maiden major championship by one stroke, the ripple effects from the sunken putt won’t be completely clear for some time yet for the 39-year-old Kiwi.
With the Claret Jug in his possession for the next year, Fox began to feel the immediate impact of being a major championship winner with a full media schedule upon arrival in his adopted US home of Jupiter, Florida.
It was perhaps a sign of things to come as Fox prepares himself for more attention moving forward.
However, with a $5.5 million payday, a spot on the PGA Tour until the end of 2031 – an additional three years on his current exemption – entry into the Open Championship every year until the age of 55, and into The Masters, PGA Championship, US Open and Players Championship for the next five years, what was perfectly clear was how his triumphant week at Royal Birkdale would positively impact his family.
“I think in a lot of ways it’s going to make my life personally a lot more difficult. Obviously, there’ll be a lot more interest, a lot more commitments that I’ll have to do and that’s all part of it and that’ll be a learning process going forward,” he told the Herald.
“But in terms of the family, it just gives us a whole lot of stability and actually makes it easier for us, to be honest, going forward. Like, we knew we were going to be here [in the States] at least until ’28 with last year’s wins and now to take that to 2031, I mean, with all the change that’s happening on the PGA Tour, I don’t know where that’s all going to sit, but I’m pretty sure having a major championship under my belt’s not going to be a bad place when all those changes happen.
“It’s going to make it great for us. We can build a little bit of a life here, but New Zealand’s always going to be home ... we’ll always be back for a decent amount of time during the year, but it just gives us some stability, makes decision-making a lot easier, makes scheduling a lot easier. The rest of it, it’s going to be a bit of a moving target for me.”
Winning a major championship is no easy feat, with Fox becoming just the fourth New Zealander to triumph in one of golf’s biggest tournaments.
Sir Bob Charles won the Open Championship in 1963. Michael Campbell won the US Open in 2005. Dame Lydia Ko won the Evian Championship in 2015, the Chevron Championship in 2016 and the Women’s Open in 2024.
Having – and making – a putt to win at Royal Birkdale with a birdie, Fox’s long-time caddie Dean Smith said it spoke to the improvements he’s seen in Fox’s game over the years in every aspect.
“The first time I saw Foxy, I was just like ‘wow this guy is world class’ and he gets better and better every year,” Smith told the Herald.
“He’s improved his game, his attitude, his focus, his mental state on the course – everything has just got better and better so it’s been amazing to be a part of that journey and [I’m] super proud of him. It’s just mega. We’ve all believed that he had this in him, and he got it done.”
After winning the Open, Fox climbed 34 spots in the world rankings to now sit at No 22, while he jumped 38 spots in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings and moved to No 2 in the rankings for the international team ahead of the Presidents Cup in September.
Fox has been vocal about earning a place in the Presidents Cup team being among his major goals for the year, and with the top six in the international rankings automatically earning a spot before an additional six are selected by the team captain, he shouldn’t miss out this time around.
Moving inside the top 30 on the FedEx Cup standings, Fox was able to change his immediate schedule. Initially, he had planned to compete in events this week and next, then take a week off before the PGA Tour playoffs start. Now, he won’t play again until the first stage of the playoffs, in Memphis in mid-August.
Instead, he will use the next few weeks to spend time with loved ones – returning to New Zealand this week with the Claret Jug in tow – and wrap his head around what happens now.
“I honestly can’t fathom trying to play a tournament right now,” he said.
“I think I just need a little bit of time to collect myself and work out what all this means, what all this does, deal with all the stuff that comes with winning a major, which is going to be exciting and very different.”
Fox has had some experience with winning big tournaments on the DP World Tour, particularly the BMW PGA Championship in 2023, which is one of the European tour’s marquee events.
After that, he found himself playing in feature groups on the tour and while it might be similar on the PGA Tour, the Kiwi admitted he wasn’t exactly sure what that would look like.
In a bid to get more of an understanding of what he’ll return to when he does get back on the Tour tee box, Fox said he would be reaching out to a couple of other players who were first-time major winners from the past couple of years.
“That’s something that I’m going to have to get used to going forward. I have a couple of people I really want to talk to about it,” Fox said.
“Aaron Rai being one of them, who obviously won the PGA [Championship] this year. I get along really well with Aaron. I just want to maybe pick his brain and see how his world changed in the month or so after the PGA, and JJ Spaun as well, who won the US Open last year, kind of [the] same thing.
“I know JJ pretty well and our kids are good friends, so I wouldn’t mind just picking his brain and seeing if I can learn anything from those guys on how to deal with something as life-changing as winning a major.
“I honestly don’t really know what to expect now going forward. That’s very cool to think about and also probably a little bit daunting as well.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.