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 early promise. He went on to win 13 major championships, all as an amateur, a record that still stands. In 1930, Jones achieved the
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Ryan Fox failed to birdie the easiest hole at Royal Birkdale while trying 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 club leader Cameron Young at 9 under, the 39-year-old New Zealander needed a birdie on the 18th hole to win the tournament after failing to birdie the par-5 17th hole.
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After hitting his drive on the final fairway, Fox nailed his approach to within just 12 feet and then holed his birdie putt into the rim of the cup to win the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. He finished at 10 under par, one stroke ahead of Young and two ahead of 54-hole leader Sam Burns.
Ryan Fox celebrates after birdieing the 18th to win the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. (Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
But his victory could mean more to international golf than anything else.
Going into the final round, everyone at Royal Birkdale was chasing American Sam Burns, who was looking for his first major championship win.
Burns, at 10 under par, led Fox and South Korean Si Woo Kim by two strokes. American Ryan Gerard and Australian Lucas Herbert were three strokes behind, while big names like Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Åberg were several strokes behind but lurking.
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Burns gained that advantage with one of the best two-round stretches in major championship history.
After opening the tournament with a three-over-par 73, Burns tied the men’s major record with an eight-under 62 on Friday. He followed up with a 5-under 65 in the third round, giving him a 36-hole total of 127, the lowest score in consecutive rounds in the history of the men’s major championship.
And Burns wasn’t the only one who fell historically low.
Herbert also scored 62 on Friday, while Fox matched the number on Saturday to move up 50 places in the standings and earn a spot alongside Burns in Sunday’s final pairing. Three players had tied the major championship scoring record in a two-day span at Royal Birkdale.
Burns also knew better than most how quickly a promising major championship on Sunday could turn to heartbreak.
Sam Burns came close again, but fell short in another major championship. (David Davies/PA Images)
He held a 54-hole lead at the 2025 US Open at Oakmont before shooting a final-round 78 and tying for seventh place. A year later, Burns nearly completed a furious comeback Sunday at Shinnecock Hills, but his birdie putt on the 72nd hole stopped inches short and left him one stroke behind eventual champion Wyndham Clark.
Now Burns had another chance.
And at first he seemed ready to take control of the tournament.
The 29-year-old American birdied the second hole to reach 11 under par and extend his lead.
Then everything changed.
Burns made three consecutive bogeys on Nos. 4, 5 and 6, blowing his entire lead in a three-hole span. The player who began Sunday with a two-stroke lead suddenly found himself struggling to stay in contention.
And as Burns stumbled, another American attacked from the center of the group.
Cam Young, like Burns, was already familiar with the heartbreak of major championships. He finished one shot behind Cameron Smith at the 2022 Open Championship despite shooting a 65 in the final round and making an eagle on the 72nd hole.
Young began the final round seven shots off the lead, seemingly out of contention, but immediately became a factor with a spectacular front-nine 29. He made four birdies in his first five holes and finally reached 10 under with another birdie on the 17th.
Then came the problems.
Young got into a fairway bunker on the final hole and failed to clear its steep face with his second shot. He eventually escaped with a bogey, but still posted an incredible six-under 64 to take the lead in the clubhouse at nine under.
But then Ryan Fox came to attack.
Fox birdied the 13th and 14th holes to catch Young at nine under. The New Zealander had a terrible break with his tee shot on the newly redesigned par-3 15th and was unable to save par. However, he bounced back with a birdie at No. 16 to tie Young again.
Young found himself in the unenviable position of sitting back and waiting to see if his score was good enough.
Cameron Young and his caddy, Kyle Sterbinsky, watch during the final round of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. (Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR)
Fox caught another bad break on the par-5 17th. He elected to hit an iron off the tee to avoid the fairway bunkers, but his ball managed to slide into one of those bunkers after rolling over 320 yards. He still managed to get a good birdie look, but couldn’t stay tied.
Burns also failed to birdie the 17th hole, the hole that was easiest during Sunday’s final round. That meant Fox was tied with Young and Burns was one stroke back with the course’s toughest hole, the par-4 18th, approaching.
Fox made it look anything but difficult, hitting his tee shot down the middle of the fairway before hitting an iron inside 12 feet and making a birdie putt to win the Open.
Burns also played the hole well, but not well enough. His attempt stopped just 30 feet from the cup and the American was unable to convert, adding another close call to his major championship resume.
That set the stage for Fox. Make the putt and win the Open. He loses and goes to a tiebreaker against Cam Young.
And he buried it to cause another pain for Young and another pain for American golf.
Because Sunday’s final round was about much more than whether Burns, Young or another contender would take the Claret Jug.
It was also about whether American golf had really begun to regain control of the sport.
Not long ago, that control seemed absolute.
Beginning with Brooks Koepka’s victory at the 2023 PGA Championship, the Americans have won seven consecutive men’s majors. Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau followed Koepka during a run that ended with Schauffele completing an American sweep of the 2024 majors at Royal Troon.
Rory McIlroy finally ended the streak with his spectacular breakthrough at the 2025 Masters.
Even then, it barely seemed like the balance of power had changed.
Scheffler won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. JJ Spaun captured the US Open at Oakmont. Scheffler then dominated the Open at Royal Portrush.
The Americans had won 10 of 11 major championships.
It wasn’t a rivalry at that time. It was domination.
Then the tide turned.
Tommy Fleetwood finally earned his first victory on the PGA Tour by winning the 2025 Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.
A month later, Europe embarrassed the United States on American soil in the Ryder Cup.
The final score, 15-13, made the competition seem much closer than it really was. Europe entered Sunday’s singles with an 11½-4½ lead and had already reduced the final session to little more than a desperate attempt by the United States 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 get any better when the calendar flipped to 2026.
McIlroy successfully defended his Masters title, and England’s Aaron Rai followed with his first major championship victory at the PGA Championship. European golfers had won the first two majors of the year.
Wyndham Clark finally stopped the bleeding by winning his second US Open at Shinnecock Hills.
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An American victory at Royal Birkdale would give American golfers the final two major championships of the season and provide real evidence that momentum had begun to recede.
A non-American victory would leave Clark as the only 2026 American grand champion, marking the first time since 2014 that Americans have won only one of the men’s four majors.
And the latter is what happened when Ryan Fox became the second New Zealander to win the Open and the third New Zealander to win a major men’s golf championship.
Clark’s victory at the US Open is the only American major championship victory of the season, the first time since 2014 that American men have failed to win at least two major tournaments.
Europe embarrassed the United States at Bethpage. Fleetwood took the FedEx Cup. European players conquered the Masters and the PGA Championship. And a non-American finished the season by lifting the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale.
It was the toughest 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 last year, there is little reason to believe the drought is about to end.
