Affable Ryan Fox gives hope to golf's good guys with Open victory
The 2026 men’s majors season will be remembered for another McIlroy Masters-class, a rare blank for Scottie Scheffler and two winners who buck the conventional wisdom that nice guys finish last.
The outpouring of joy from within the golfing community at Aaron Rai winning the PGA Championship at Aronimink was matched on Sunday night by Ryan Fox’s victory in the Open at Royal Birkdale.
The 39-year-old New Zealander doesn’t look like the stereotypical golfer of the modern era; straight out of the American collegiate circuit and bred for winning, or over-hyped Briton who repeatedly fails to get over the line.
Which is perhaps why Fox resonates so much. His affable personality and less muscular physique, shall we say, makes him eminently more relatable.
The fact that he plays so quickly, relying on his instincts, when so many players faff about laying on the green, holding up hands like they have an invisible spirit level analysing the contours, also makes the Kiwi more likeable. He has good pedigree as well: two wins on the PGA Tour, four on the European/DP World Tour and countless others on the Asian and Australasian tours, that show he is a golfer who will carry the title of Champion Golfer of the Year with great distinction.
He comes from good sporting stock, too. His dad Grant was one of the all-time greats of the All Blacks rugby union team, winning the inaugural 1987 World Cup, while grandfather Merv was captain of the Test cricket team. Fox credits his dad with saving his professional career.
“My second year on the Aussie Tour (2012) I was pretty close to giving it up,” said Fox in the champion’s press conference.
“I remember getting to the Aussie Masters and my dad came over and caddied for me and said to me ‘Why do you play this game?’.
“I said ‘Well, it’s supposed to be fun’. He goes, ‘Well, let’s just go out this week and try to have some fun’. I finished fifth that week.”
It proved the turning point. Fox added: “I was a rookie on the DP World Tour at 30. I was a rookie on the PGA Tour at 37 and now a major champion at 39. I’m definitely not following the trend.”
McIlroy might never have got going at Birkdale but he ends a second successive season with a green jacket. World No 1 Scheffler finishes the majors with a second, 14th, and two fourth-place finishes but no top prize.
Europe won two majors - the United States which won seven out of eight the last two years - just one.
By winning the Open, Fox, half a year shy of turning 40, has given hope to so many of his peers.