Ryan Fox explores the history of the Open | Golf News

Royal Birkdale (Southport): There was no shortage of drama at the 154 th Open which literally went down to the wire. No fewer than seven players reached at least eight under at one point and none went over 11-under, before the roulette ball was stuck at nine-under for more than two and a half hours.Then, first slowly but surely, it crept into the 10-under slot as New Zealand’s Ryan Fox holed the final putt from just under 12 feet to break through to American Cameron Young’s clubhouse target of nine-under, which was set when Fox had yet to reach the turn in his final round.Son of former All Black rugby union international Grant Fox, the New Zealander found four birdies in his last four holes in a dramatic finish and from almost nowhere at the turn, he passed the post and opposition despite a bogey at the Par-3 15th. With the crowd holding its breath, Fox held his nerve and pulled away from 12 feet to leave Young pinned again.Fox (68) finished at 10-under, while Young (64), who rallied from three-under to nine-under, was second. The overnight leader, Sam Burns (72), who almost missed the Open to be with his newborn daughter, climbed to 11-under before he bounced back and sank three consecutive bogeys from the fourth hole to drop to eightunder and stayed there until the end to finish third.Defending champion Scottie Scheffler (67) never let up until the end. He needed an impossible eagle on the Par-4 18th and finished with a bogey for seven-under and tied for fourth with Southport-born Tommy Fleetwood who saw his chances slip away after three bogeys in a row midway through the round from the ninth to the 11th.