388 - Open Championship Roundup

We look back on a dramatic finish at Royal Birkdale, where Ryan Fox closed with a strong Sunday round and won on the 72nd hole. We say he stayed composed under pressure, kept executing shots, and handled some very unlucky breaks on the closing holes without letting them affect him.

We also discuss how the course played over the week. We say it was firm, dry and much harder in the afternoon, while the morning wave had the best scoring conditions. We note that the changes to the course produced strong championship golf, with several holes forcing players to choose different clubs and strategies.

We reflect on the other main contenders, especially Sam Burns, Tommy Fleetwood and Scottie Scheffler. We say Burns started well but made a series of errors that took him out of the lead, Fleetwood had a very strong week but faded late, and Scheffler struck the ball well but lost many strokes on the greens.

A large part of the discussion focuses on the Bryson DeChambeau ruling and the difference between that incident and Scottie Scheffler’s ruling on 17. We say the rules were applied in different ways, that the evidence and intent were debated, and that the decisions raised questions about consistency and about how golf polices itself.

We finish with the wider context of Fox’s win, including his New Zealand sporting background, the significance of the result for New Zealand golf, and a few lighter notes on the week’s other winners and losers, including the event’s attendance, the amateur performances, and the people behind the tournament setup.

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