Ryan Fox matches major championship record with a 62 in the British Open

Sunday, 19 July 2026

Ryan Fox added his name 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.

The Kiwi surged into a share of second place, after only making the cut with a shot to spare, and is just two shots behind the leader, Sam Burns, heading into the final round.

The American, who himself carded an eight-under 62 in the second round, backed it up with a five-under 65 to get to 10-under for the tournament.

Ryan Fox of New Zealand acknowledges the crowd on the 18th green after completing his third round.

Fox and South Korean Si Woo Kim shared second at eight-under, with Ryan Gerard and Lucas Herbert a shot further back.

Bryson DeChambeau, at six-under par, is the only player in the top-10 with a major already to his name.

Meanwhile, fellow Kiwi Kazuma Kobori is also having a fine week, carding a three-under 67 on moving day to be in a group of players, including world No 1 Scottie Scheffler, who are tied for 11th at four-under par.

Fox will play with Burns in the final round in the final round in the early hours of Monday morning NZT.

Fox started early with barely a trace of wind, and he took advantage. He made five birdies on the front nine, and birdied two of his last three holes for 62 on the par-70 Birkdale links. Lucas Herbert and Burns each had 62 some 20 minutes apart on Friday.

Ryan Fox of New Zealand plays a shot from the 11th fairway.

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 Xander Schauffele, the only player with 62 twice in a major. Schauffele and Rickie Fowler each shot 62 in the 2023 US 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.

Xander Schauffele of the United States, left, and Ryan Fox of New Zealand shake hands after complete their third rounds on the 18th green during the third day of the British Open Golf championships at Royal Birkdale golf club, in Southport, England, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

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.

Schauffele is the only player with 62 in a major to win. Fox, who made the cut with one shot to spared, finished atop the leaderboard with Herbert, who was still more than an hour away from teeing off in the third round.

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.

Golfers with a round of 62 in the major championships

Players with a 62 in men’s major championships with round, year and course (par):

British Open

Branden Grace, third, 2017, Royal Birkdale (70)

Lucas Herbert, second, 2026, Royal Birkdale (70)

Sam Burns, second, 2026, Royal Birkdale (70)

Ryan Fox, third, 2026, Royal Birkdale (70)

US Open

Rickie Fowler, first, 2023, Los Angeles Country Club (70)

Xander Schauffele, first, 2023, Los Angeles Country Club (70)

PGA Championship

x-Xander Schauffele, first, 2024, Valhalla (71)

Shane Lowry, third, 2024, Valhalla (71)

x-won tournament