On the 19th of July 2026, Aucklander Ryan Fox won The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. The Kiwi, son of World Cup-winning All Black Grant Fox, saw off Cameron Young – and everyone else – to claim the first major title of his career. Over four days at a sun-baked Birkdale, Fox held his nerve, made the most of kind conditions when they were available, and came out on top, one clear of American Young, with another US golfer, Sam Burns, a shot further back.
The 39-year-old opened with a score of 72, closed with a 68 and also shot a 68 on Friday. But boy did he move on moving day. Ten under par is a very solid score to win a major with, but it is not spectacular. What Fox produced on Saturday was certainly spectacular and then some, with his incredible 62 setting him up for a shot at glory on the Sunday.
That two other players had the same sensational score a day earlier should not take the shine off Fox’s achievement. However, perhaps the most amazing thing about his win, and the one that will no doubt give him the most satisfaction, is the gold he produced on the 72nd hole when everything was on the line.
He needed a par to force a play-off with Young, who had led in the clubhouse for some time. A birdie would mean he got to take the Claret Jug home to New Zealand, but the testing 18th had given up just four birdies all day. In an approach befitting of Brendon McCullum’s “Bazball” in cricket, Fox pinged a driver over 330 yards into the middle of the tight fairway. He then played perhaps the most important shot of his career from almost 180 yards, sending the ball to within 11 feet of the hole.
He held his nerve to hole his putt to seal a fourth birdie in the last six holes, ensuring the title was his. Fox was a 100/1 shot on Thursday morning, but he defied those odds to become just the second Kiwi ever to win The Open. But which other New Zealanders have won majors, and where does the country rank in terms of the majors its players have won?
Three Kiwis, Three Majors
| Year | Player | Major Won | Course |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Bob Charles | Open Championship | Royal Lytham & St Annes |
| 2005 | Michael Campbell | U.S. Open | Pinehurst Resort |
| 2026 | Ryan Fox | Open Championship | Royal Birkdale |
Fox is the third golfer from New Zealand to win a major, with nobody from the Land of the Long White Cloud having won more than one. The first player from NZ to win The Open was Bob Charles. Charles was also the first left-handed golfer to win a major when he triumphed at Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club in 1963, just up the road (and across the Ribble Estuary) from Royal Birkdale.
Charles won £1,500 having prevailed after a 36-hole playoff. He beat American Phil Rodgers after the gruelling playoff, the last time the British Open used a 36-hole tiebreaker. The pair had finished level on 277, three under, one ahead of Jack Nicklaus. Charles won 80 times overall, with five wins on the PGA Tour (plus his Open success).
He enjoyed great longevity too, playing his first Open in 1958 (as an amateur) and his last in 2001! He missed the cut in both of those but was 71st in 1996 and 20th in 1988.
Michael Campbell is the other New Zealander to have a major title to his name. His success came at the US Open in 2005, and he took home rather more than £1,500. His prize was a cool $1.17m, although he landed significantly more the same year when he won the biggest prize the sport had ever seen, landing £1m at the HSBC World Match Play Championship.
Campbell won the US Open at Pinehurst, finishing two clear of Tiger Woods on even par. His closing 69 made him the only player to finish under par for the tournament in what was his only career win on the PGA Tour. He won eight times on the European Tour, including that lucrative Match Play win where he beat Paul McGinlay 2 and 1 in the final.
Three Majors Might be More than it Sounds
New Zealand is, of course, a rugby country, with cricket, rowing, cycling, netball and football all popular too. However, considering the bigger picture, and the small population of the nation, three majors is actually a pretty decent haul. Only 14 countries have had players win more than a single major, so given NZ has a population of around 5.4m – ranking around 126th – that is pretty impressive.
New Zealand joins Fiji, Argentina and Zimbabwe on three majors, putting it joint 11th overall. Irish golfers have won four majors, as have Germans, with a jump then to Jersey and Northern Ireland, whose golfers have both won nine majors.
Of course, few nations have shared their majors as equally as the Kiwis, which is rather in keeping with the national character. Harry Vardon won seven of Jersey’s big ones, while Rory McIlroy has, of course, won the clear majority of Northern Ireland’s. When NZ will add to their tally is impossible to know, but for now, we would say they are firmly one of the world’s major golfing nations!