America 250: Bobby Jones
Bobby Jones was born on March 17, 1902, in Atlanta, Georgia, and became one of the greatest amateur golfers in history. As a teenager, he reached the third round of the US Amateur at age 14, showing great promise. He went on to win 13 major championships, all as amateurs, a record that still stands. In 1930, Jones was awarded the
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Ryan Fox failed to make a birdie on the easiest hole at Royal Birkdale as he bid to win the Open Championship. But, when it mattered most, he birdied the toughest hole on the course to capture the Claret Jug.
Tied with clubhouse leader Cameron Young at 9 under, the 39-year-old New Zealander needed a birdie at No. 18 to win the tournament after failing to birdie the par-5 17th hole.
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After driving down the final fairway, Fox got to just inside 12 feet, then knocked his birdie putt into the edge of the cup to win the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. He finished at 10 under, one shot ahead of Young and two ahead of 54-hole leader Sam Burns.
Ryan Fox celebrates after making a birdie on 18 to win the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. (Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
But his victory could mean more for international golf than anything else.
As the final round began, everyone at Royal Birkdale was chasing American Sam Burns, who was seeking his first major championship victory.
Burns, at 10 under, led Fox and South Korean Si Woo Kim by two shots. American Ryan Gerard and Australian Lucas Herbert were three shots behind, while big names like Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Åberg sat several shots behind but hiding.
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Burns earned that advantage with one of the best two-round stretches in major championship history.
After opening the tournament with a three-under 73, Burns tied the men’s major tournament record with an eight-under 62 on Friday. He followed with a third-round score of 65-under, giving him a 36-hole total of 127, the lowest score over consecutive rounds in men’s major championship history.
And Burns wasn’t the only one to fall to an all-time low.
Herbert also shot 62 on Friday, while Fox matched the number on Saturday to climb 50 places in the leaderboard and earn a spot alongside Burns in Sunday’s final pairing. Three players had equaled the major championship goals record in the space of two days at Royal Birkdale.
Burns also knew better than anyone how quickly a promising major championship Sunday could turn into heartbreak.
Sam Burns came close again, but narrowly failed to win another major championship. (David Davies/PA Images)
He held a 54-hole lead at the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont before shooting a 78 in the final round and falling into a tie for seventh. A year later, Burns nearly made a furious comeback Sunday at Shinnecock Hills, but his birdie putt on the 72nd hole stopped inches short and left him one shot behind eventual champion Wyndham Clark.
Now Burns had another opportunity.
And he initially seemed ready to take control of the tournament.
The 29-year-old American birdied the second hole to reach 11 under and extend his advantage.
Then everything changed.
Burns made three consecutive bogeys at Nos. 4, 5 and 6, blowing away his entire lead in three holes. The player who started Sunday with a two-shot lead suddenly found himself struggling to stay in contention.
And as Burns stumbled, another American came charging from the middle of the pack.
Cam Young, like Burns, was already familiar with major championship heartbreak. He finished one shot behind Cameron Smith at the 2022 Open Championship despite shooting 65 in the final round and an eagle on the 72nd hole.
Young started the final round seven shots behind the leader, seemingly out of contention, but immediately turned into a factor with a spectacular front nine 29. He made four birdies in his first five holes and finally got to 10 under with another birdie at the 17th.
Then came the troubles.
Young drove into a fairway bunker on the final hole and failed to clear its steep face with his second shot. He ultimately escaped with a bogey, but still posted an incredible six-under 64 to take the clubhouse lead at nine-under.
But then Ryan Fox came along.
Fox birdied the 13th and 14th holes to catch Young at nine under. The New Zealander took a terrible break with his tee shot on the newly redesigned par-3 15th and couldn’t save par. However, he bounced back with a birdie at the 16th to tie Young again.
Young found himself in the unenviable position of sitting back and just waiting to see if his score was good enough.
Cameron Young and his caddy, Kyle Sterbinsky, watch the final round of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. (Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR)
Fox had another bad break at the par-5 17th hole. He opted to hit an iron off the tee to avoid the fairway bunkers, but his ball managed to slip into one of those bunkers after rolling more than 320 yards. He still managed to give himself a good birdie look, but failed to stay even.
Burns also failed to make a birdie on hole No. 17, the easiest hole to play in Sunday’s final round. That meant Fox was tied with Young and Burns was one shot away from the course’s toughest hole, the par-4 18th, looming.
Fox made it look anything but difficult, launching his tee shot into the middle of the fairway before sticking an iron inside 12 feet and sinking a birdie putt to win the Open.
Burns played the hole well too, but not well enough. His approach stopped just 30 feet from the cup and the American was unable to convert, adding another close call to his major championship record.
This paved the way for Fox. Make the putt, win the Open. Missing out and going to the playoffs against Cam Young.
And he buried it to deliver another heartbreak to Young and another heartbreak to American golf.
Because Sunday’s final round wasn’t just about whether Burns, Young or another competitor would walk away with the Claret Jug.
It was also a question of whether American golf had truly begun to regain control of the sport.
Not so long ago, this control seemed absolute.
Starting with Brooks Koepka’s victory at the 2023 PGA Championship, Americans have won seven consecutive men’s majors. Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau all followed Koepka on a run that ended with Schauffele completing a U.S. sweep of the 2024 majors at Royal Troon.
Rory McIlroy finally ended the streak with his spectacular breakthrough at the 2025 Masters.
Even then, there was little sense that the balance of power had shifted.
Scheffler won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. JJ Spaun won the US Open at Oakmont. Scheffler then dominated the Open at Royal Portrush.
Americans had won 10 of 11 major championships.
It wasn’t a rivalry at that point. It was domination.
Then the tide turned.
Tommy Fleetwood finally earned his first PGA Tour victory by winning the 2025 Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.
A month later, Europe embarrassed the United States on American soil at the Ryder Cup.
The final score, 15-13, made the contest seem much closer than it actually was. Europe entered Sunday’s singles with an 11½-4½ advantage and had already reduced the final session to little more than a desperate attempt by the Americans to avoid total humiliation.
European players celebrate with the trophy after winning the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Things didn’t improve when the calendar moved to 2026.
McIlroy successfully defended his Masters title, and England’s Aaron Rai followed with his first major victory at the PGA Championship. European golfers had won the first two major tournaments of the year.
Wyndham Clark finally stopped the bleeding by winning his second US Open at Shinnecock Hills.
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A U.S. victory at Royal Birkdale would give American golfers the final two major championships of the season and provide concrete evidence that the momentum has begun to shift.
A non-American victory would make Clark the only American major champion of 2026, marking the first time since 2014 that Americans have won just one of the four men’s majors.
And that’s what happened when Ryan Fox became the second New Zealander to win the Open and the third New Zealander to win a major championship in men’s golf.
Clark’s victory at the US Open was the only US major championship victory of the season, the first time since 2014 that US men have failed to win at least two majors.
Europe embarrassed the United States at Bethpage. Fleetwood won the FedEx Cup. European players have won the Masters and the PGA Championship. And a non-American finished the season by lifting the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale.
This marks the most difficult major championship season for American golf in 12 years.
And the next Ryder Cup will be played at Adare Manor in Ireland, where the United States will try to win on European soil for the first time since 1993.
Given the past year, there is little reason to believe that the drought is about to end.
