Ryan Fox Fires Record-Tying 62 to Share Open Championship Lead With Lucas Herbert at Royal Birkdale

Ryan Fox produced one of the great rounds in major championship history on Saturday at Royal Birkdale, carding a sensational 8-under 62 to vault into a share of the lead at the 154th Open Championship. The 39-year-old New Zealander’s round matched the low-score record for a major and pulled him level with overnight leader Lucas Herbert at 8-under par heading into Sunday’s final round.

Fox barely made it to the weekend, squeaking through the cut at even par after two modest opening rounds. Nobody expected what came next. Paired with Xander Schauffele in Saturday’s group, Fox turned in a 5-under 29 on the front nine to announce himself as a factor. He gave a shot back on the back nine but answered with three more birdies, including one at the par-3 16th, to keep the round alive. On the 18th, he ripped a shot from a fairway bunker that missed the flagstick by centimeters and settled some 30 feet away, setting up a two-putt birdie that completed the 62 and moved him to 8-under for the tournament.

A Record Round for the Third Time in Two Days

Fox’s 62 is the eighth round of that number in major championship history, and remarkably the third one recorded at Royal Birkdale in less than 48 hours. Herbert and Sam Burns both shot 62 on Friday to share what was then the tournament and major record, with Herbert’s effort vaulting him into the outright lead at 8-under. Fox’s Saturday 62 matched that mark and pulled him level atop the leaderboard with Herbert entering the final round of the 154th Open.

The scoreboard behind them is stacked. Jackson Suber, Cameron Young and Ryan Gerard are tied for third at 6-under, while Bryson DeChambeau, Sam Burns and Si Woo Kim sit in a group at 5-under, just three shots off the pace. Further back, a cluster that includes Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm is within striking distance at 4-under, meaning Sunday’s final round at Royal Birkdale is shaping up as a wide-open shootout with a legitimate contingent of contenders still in the mix.

Fox’s Rise Into Major Championship Contention

A share of the 54-hole lead at a major is new territory for Fox, whose best prior finish at The Open was a tie for 16th in 2019 and whose best major result overall came at last year’s U.S. Open, where he finished tied for 19th. The Auckland native turned professional in 2011 and built his game steadily through the European Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia before making his name on bigger stages. He broke through with his first European Tour title at the 2019 ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth and later added a signature win at the 2023 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, closing with a final-round 67 to beat Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai by a shot.

Fox’s PGA Tour breakthrough came in 2025, when he won the Oneflight Myrtle Beach Classic in a playoff over Harry Higgs and Mackenzie Hughes, then followed a month later by winning the RBC Canadian Open in a four-hole playoff against Sam Burns. Those two victories established him as a player capable of closing out big moments under pressure, a trait he will need again on Sunday if he is to convert a share of the 54-hole lead into his first major championship title.

What’s Next at Royal Birkdale

Sunday’s final round will decide the Claret Jug, with Fox and Herbert set to head out in the last group carrying a two-shot cushion over the chasing pack at 6-under. Given the litany of low scores already posted across Royal Birkdale this week — three rounds of 62 among them — nothing about the leaderboard is likely to stay settled for long. With major champions and current major winners like DeChambeau and Scheffler still lurking within four shots, bettors weighing action on the final round can compare live markets through a DraftKings promo code before tee times get underway. The finish at the 154th Open is set up to be as unpredictable as the Moving Day scores that preceded it.