07/18/26 03:01:00
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07/18 15:00 CDT Ryan Fox matches major championship record with a 62
in the
British Open
Ryan Fox matches major championship record with a 62
in the British Open
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
SOUTHPORT, England (AP) --- Ryan Fox added his name Saturday to the growing
list of players who share the major championship scoring record when he became
the third player this week with a record-tying 62 in the British Open at Royal
Birkdale.
Fox started early with barely a trace of wind, and he took advantage. The New
Zealander made five birdies on the front nine, and birdied two of his last
three holes for a 62 on the par-70 Birkdale links. Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns
each had 62 some 20 minutes apart on Friday.
More than his name in the record book, Fox now has a shot at his first major.
With stronger wind in the afternoon and tough pin positions, he wound up two
shots behind Burns (65) going into the final round. Herbert, who had a 36-hole
lead, shot 71 and was three shots behind. Xander Schauffele at the 2024 PGA
Championship is the only player with a 62 in a major who went on to win.
There now have been eight rounds of 62 in major championship history, half of
them at Royal Birkdale. Branden Grace was the first to set the record with a 62
at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
Fox was in a pot bunker off the fairway on the 18th and still managed to find
the green, leaving a birdie putt of nearly 50 feet for a 61. He left it short
by about 5 feet and holed the par putt.
"When I got to 6 under through 14 I thought, ?Oh, I've got a chance.' I would
have liked to give myself a birdie chance at the last, but happy to make par,"
Fox said.
He played alongside Schauffele, the only player with 62 twice in a major.
Schauffele and Rickie Fowler each shot 62 in the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles
Country Club --- like Herbert and Burns, they were playing two groups apart ---
and Schauffele and Shane Lowry each shot 62 in the 2024 PGA Championship at
Valhalla.
Haeran Ryu set the record in women's majors last week with a 60 in the final
round of the Evian Championship, which has yielded all the top scores in LPGA
majors since it was designated one 13 years ago.
The links have rarely been this brown and fast, but it's the wind --- or lack
of it --- that has allowed for such low scoring this week.
Fox, one of the strongest players in golf with his rugby heritage, leaned on
his driver for much of the round and set up good scoring chances.
"The game plan was to be aggressive," Fox said. "I was aggressive on a lot of
good wedge shots. Pretty happy with 62 at the end."
All but one of his nine birdies --- Fox made his lone bogey on the 13th with a
drive into a pot bunker --- came from about 10 feet or closer. His drive on the
321-yard fifth hole was about 30 feet from the hole, and his most important
shot was a wedge from the rough on the par-5 17th that rolled out to about 4
feet.
Herbert also had a bogey on his card during his 62 on Friday.
There have been weeks of soft conditions or little wind --- two elements that
lead to low scores --- at previous majors. Seven major courses --- three of
them links courses --- have yielded two rounds of 63 or lower in the same
championship.
Royal Birkdale is the first to give up three of them --- with half of the field
Saturday and the final round still to come.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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