Ryan Fox birdies 72nd hole to capture Open Championship - ESPN

SOUTHPORT, England — New Zealand's Ryan Fox hit the iron shot and putt of his life on the 72nd hole Sunday to win the 154th Open Championship for the first major championship title of his career.

Needing a birdie on the 18th hole to avoid a playoff with clubhouse leader Cameron Young, Fox hit his approach shot from 175 yards. As the ball flew in the blue English sky toward the green, Fox yelled, «Be right!»

It was.

The ball stopped 11½ feet from the hole. After his playing partner, Sam Burns, putted out for par, Fox drained the birdie putt to win the Claret Jug. He raised both arms into the air after the ball fell into the cup.

«I hit two shots exactly how I wanted to hit them,» Fox said. «I didn't feel anything for the putt; everything was shaking that much. I was just happy to hit it somewhat near the hole, and to see it go in was incredible.

»To cap it off with a putt — everyone practices on the green, I guess, you've got a putt to win a major championship, to win The Open. It's not like that in real life. It's not a very comfortable feeling. It's certainly very enjoyable when you see it go in."

It was just the 27th birdie all week on No. 18 — the fewest of any hole at Royal Birkdale this week as it played 0.0346 strokes over par for the tournament, the hardest of any hole this week.

Fox, who matched the lowest round ever in a major championship with a 62 on Saturday, put himself in position to win with three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back nine en route to a 2-under 68. His 10-under total of 270 was one stroke better than Young's.

Fox narrowly missed a 10-foot putt for birdie on the par-5 17th that would have put him in front before the finishing hole.

After that putt, Fox turned to his caddie, Dean Smith,