Ryan Fox wins maiden Major Championship at The Open in dramatic Birkdale climax

Ryan Fox birdied the 72nd hole to win his first Major Championship in a thrilling climax to The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.

The New Zealander entered the final day two shots off the lead and at seven under through 11 holes of his round was struggling to ignite in the toughening conditions over the sun-baked Southport links.

But he produced a brilliant, gutsy performance down the stretch to claim the Claret Jug and be crowned Champion Golfer of the Year.

In his typical fast on-course manner, he seized the moment with four birdies in his final six holes, producing two of his career-best shots at the 18th, before holding his nerve to hole an 11 foot birdie putt to claim a one-shot triumph over American Cameron Young, who had earlier set the clubhouse target at nine under with a 64.

With victory, Fox becomes just the second Kiwi golfer to win The Open after Bob Charles in 1963 at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

The win is Fox's fifth on the DP World Tour and first since he became a Rolex Series winner at the BMW PGA Championship in September 2023 - a triumph also achieved with a final-hole birdie.

Having produced a Major record-equalling 62 in the third round to vault into contention, Fox realised a career goal in a finish that will live long in the memory.

Sam Burns, who held the 54-hole lead, finished solo third at eight under after a 70, with defending champion Scottie Scheffler and home hero Tommy Fleetwood then in a share of fourth place at seven under after rounds of 67 and 68 respectively.

Speaking at the trophy presentation, 39-year-old father-of-two Fox said: "I spoke to my kids last night, and they said, 'Bring back a trophy.' I think this is a pretty cool one to bring back for them."

He later said: "It's unbelievable, to be honest. I still don't know what to think. My nerves are all over the place. I'm not quite sure how I hit that putt on 18. Look, it is a dream come true.

"Looking at that trophy now, it's the first time I've seen it up close. So it's pretty amazing."

"To play that last hole how I did, I stood on the tee and said to my caddie Dean [Smith], we're going to try to win this.

"I hit two perfect shots. I'm not sure how I hit the putt. As I said, my hands were all over the place. I was just trying to get it towards the hole somewhere. It's surreal that it went in.

"Champion Golfer of the Year has got a pretty good ring to it."

Ahead of the final round, 18 players were within six shots of Burns and fast starts were needed by those in the chasing pack.

Remarkably, the greatest challenge was made by someone who started seven shots back in Young.

Starting his final round at 12.05pm local time, he birdied four of his first five holes, before adding another at the ninth to play the front nine in 29 shots and get to eight under.

Fellow American Scheffler was another to make a front-nine charge as the World Number One started with back-to-back birdies before adding another at the drivable fifth before he missed a great look at the ninth to hit the turn at seven under.

Fleetwood was the fans' favourite as he looked to claim his first Major triumph and he got off to the perfect start by holing a 73-foot birdie putt, before further birdies at the fifth and eighth lifted him to eight under.

When overnight leader Burns bogeyed the fifth moments later, having initially started strongly with a birdie at the second, the Englishman was just one off the lead but he flew the green from the ninth fairway and then faced an awkward chip back onto the green before he two-putted for a bogey.

It was to be the first of three consecutive bogeys around the turn that saw him drop to five under and leave him needing a miracle, which he was unable to pull off despite receiving a hero's ovation as he closed with a birdie-birdie finish.

As Scheffler's momentum halted too with a bogey at the 13th after finding a buried lie, his good friend Burns found a ditch with his tee shot at the sixth and despite a good up and down still carded his third consective bogey to fall to eight under.

After a run of four straight pars on the back nine, Young made birdies at the par five 14th and 17th to reach ten under for the championship and leave him needing a closing birdie to become the fourth player this week to card a Major record-equalling 62.

However, having found a sand trap off the tee he drilled his escape into the face and the ball rebounded sideways into the rough, from where he hit into a greenside bunker and subsequently made his first bogey of the day to sign for a 64 and the clubhouse lead.

At this point, Si Woo Kim was leader on the course after back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth lifted him to ten under.

One behind, Fox - who was playing alongside Burns in the final group - was reliant on good scrambling to be one under through seven holes after a birdie at the second.

Further ahead, Scheffler was not out of the picture as he recovered from a second bogey in three holes at the demanding 15th with back-to-back birdies over the next two to get to eight under.

However, needing a birdie at the last to match the clubhouse score of nine under, he failed to find the green from the rough and missed a nine-foot par putt to settle for a 67 to end his defence of the title.

When Fox made a similar unforced error to the one Fleetwood earlier made at the ninth to drop back to eight under, Kim appeared the player most in control and was still out in front as he made his way to the 11th tee.

But he would bogey the hole and then fail to get up and down at the par three 12th, while Fox showed resolve to recover from a bogey at the 11th to hole from 12 feet for birdie at the 12th and add another birdie as his aggressive mindset paid off with an up-and-down birdie at the 14th to get to nine under.

Fox then suffered a tough break as his tee shot to the par three 15th struck the face of a bunker and finished up against the edge.

He chipped out sideways and did well to get up and down from 45 yards for a bogey, which he immediately recovered with a birdie at the 16th after his approach finished pin high ten feet away.

Despite finding another bunker off the tee at the 17th, he still gave himself a great chance to move into the lead on the course but saw his positive birdie putt from inside of ten feet miss to the right.

Burns struck a huge drive down the penultimate hole but could only manage a par - his 11th in a row - after a pulled approach.

With Young on the practice range warming up in readiness for a potential play-off, Fox needed a birdie for victory while Burns needed a birdie for a chance to play his way into extra holes.

While both found the green in two, Fox struck his approach closer, and after watching Burns see his birdie putt miss, wasted no time in producing the winning moment which was met by rapturous applause by the many thousands of fans watching on.

You can watch Fox in action on the DP World Tour in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club from September 17-20. To buy your tickets, click here.