Ryan Fox walked off the 18th green at Royal Birkdale on Saturday with an 8-under-par 62, a score that matched the lowest round in men’s major championship history. It was the third 62 carded at this Open in barely 24 hours — Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns both did it Friday — making the 2026 Open the first major to see three rounds of 62 in the same tournament.
Half of the eight 62s ever recorded in men’s majors have now come at Royal Birkdale. Branden Grace got there first, in the third round of the 2017 Open. Fox, playing alongside 2024 Open champion Xander Schauffele, had a look at 61 before his tee shot on the 18th found a fairway bunker. His 48-foot birdie putt pulled up five feet short. He cleaned up the par and settled for a share of the record.
“I probably didn’t think about it too much until I got up and down on 14 for birdie,” Fox told BBC Sport. He had five birdies in his opening eight holes, his only blemish a bogey on the par-4 13th after his tee shot found a fairway bunker. He responded with three birdies in his next four holes to give himself a crack at history before the 18th-hole drive let him down.
“We’ve had it as good as you can get weather-wise,” Fox said. “The wind was down, the greens are perfect, the ball is going miles with the fairways so baked out.”
Schauffele, who has shot 62 twice in majors himself, described the pin sheet as deliberately hostile. “You saw they did not want a 62 looking at the pin sheet,” he said. “His 62 is impressive, for sure.”
Fox held the clubhouse lead at 8 under, tied with Herbert, who was still on the course in the final group of the day. The leaderboard behind them was bunched: Sam Burns, Jackson Suber, Cameron Young, and Kim Si-woo all sat at 7 under, with Tommy Fleetwood at 6 under and defending champion Scottie Scheffler at 5 under. Burns, a three-time U.S. Open runner-up, arrived at Birkdale with low expectations — his wife delivered their second child early last week and told him to go play.
Rory McIlroy, who won the Masters earlier this year, closed with a 69 to finish the day at 2 under, six strokes off the lead. He saved his best for last, draining a 20-foot bunker shot on the 18th for a closing birdie that drew a roar from the gallery but did nothing to change the arithmetic.
The round’s loudest subplot belonged to Bryson DeChambeau, who was assessed a penalty for a rules infraction on the 5th hole during Friday’s second round — an episode quickly dubbed “Gardenclearancegate.” R&A chief executive Mark Darbon addressed the ruling on Saturday, telling the BBC the decision was “clear cut” while acknowledging the emotional reaction it provoked. “We understand there’s some emotion around that,” Darbon said. “We can all empathise with it.” DeChambeau, for his part, birdied the 6th on Saturday with a 35-foot putt that broke hard right at the last moment, pulling him back to 5 under before he bogeyed the 2nd and slipped further.
The R&A raised the total purse to $17.5 million this year, a $500,000 increase from 2025. The winner will collect $3.2 million. That figure still trails the other three majors by a wide margin — the PGA Championship paid out $20.5 million — but the R&A has never shown much interest in a prize-money arms race. The Claret Jug, not the check, is the point.
Seven days before Fox’s 62, Korea’s Haeran Ryu shot an 11-under 60 at the Evian Championship, the lowest round in any men’s or women’s major. The record book is getting crowded. On Sunday at Birkdale, someone will try to write a different chapter.
Sources:
- The Guardian — The Open 2026: day three live updates
- Yahoo Sports — A third 62 at Birkdale: Fox equals Open record
- CBS Sports — 2026 Open prize money and purse breakdown