Ryan Fox’s unofficial Open record, Cameron Young’s all-time bad travel break and Bryson DeChambeau’s reportedly wild get-out-of-jail-free plan

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we are VIRTUALLY CERTAIN that even more tour pros—and regular golfers—are going to try to take advantage of Temporary Immovable Objects (TIO) after that wild Scottie Scheffler ruling during the final round of the British Open. Heck, the next time I hit it deep into the trees, I might look for a birdhouse that’s in between the hole and me and ask my buddies for a free drop. But until then, let’s talk about everything that happened during a truly wild week at Royal Birkdale.

Ryan Fox: What an amazing finish at the Open by the 39-year-old New Zealander, who looked like prime Tiger Woods closing out a major championship despite never being in that position before. Heck, even prime Tiger Woods never had a finish quite like Fox, Birdie-birdie-bogey(after a brutal break, more on that in a bit)-birdie-par-birdie? With that final birdie coming on the toughest hole on the course? Amazing.

Fox told his caddie on the tee he was going to try to win it there with a birdie, and he did. It was the equivalent of a football team rolling on offense going for a two-point attempt instead of kicking the extra point to get to overtime. Although, in Fox’s case, with his dad Grant being a New Zealand rugby legend, there’s probably a better comp with that sport. And with those genes and that toughness, it makes a lot more sense he was able to emerge on top from that final-round scrum.

Andrew Redington

This guy is quite a story, not turning pro until he was 25, not earning his DP World Tour card until he was 35 and not earning his PGA Tour card until he was 37. But now at 39 he’s the CHAMPION GOLFER OF THE YEAR and he’ll be one of the oldest to make his debut at the Presidents Cup this fall. Plus, how can you not love a pro golfer who enjoys a mid-round hot dog?

Yeah, he’s going to have fun with the claret jug.

Ryan Fox’s pace of play: Much has been made of this and for good reason. In an era where pros—and weekend hacks—take way, way too much time to play a shot, Fox is a breath of fresh air. In fact, he stroked that final putt—the biggest putt of his life—a mere 22 seconds after playing partner Sam Burns had plucked his golf ball out of the cup:

Incredible. Fox knocked that thing in quicker than you can say CHAMPION GOLFER OF THE YEAR. “It's not that difficult to pick a shot and pick a club,” Fox said. Love that, but would also love if Fox said that to some of his peers. “The less time I have to think about it, the less bad stuff can creep in there,” he added. Amen to that, Ryan.

Ryan Fox’s mental game: That last quote speaks to Fox’s mindset, which I think deserves even more attention than his pace of play. After coming up inches from hitting a brilliant shot on the beastly par-3 15th, Fox’s ball wound up in a hideously unlucky spot in a pot bunker. Even then, he wasted no time hopping in and hitting one out backwards. And then he got up and down for what will go down as one of the best bogeys ever.

On 17, he got another bad break when he hit iron off a tee to avoid another bunker, but his tee shot ran so much that it still (barely) found that bunker, leaving him another awkward shot. Once again, Fox rolled with it, hit a nice layup and still nearly made birdie. Maybe it’s growing up with a hall-of-fame rugby dad, maybe it’s his work with sports psychologist Karl Morris, maybe it's the breathwork he does, but whatever the reason, Ryan showed remarkable resolve in those moments. And as someone who has been known to completely melt down in similar situations, I find his reactions to those bad breaks even more impressive than that final birdie.

Bryson DeChambeau’s antics: As the world is well aware, the two-time U.S. Open champ received a controversial two-stroke penalty on Friday evening following his second round for violating Rule 8.1. Whether he purposely improved the conditions of his shot is impossible to ever know—although many trusted voices like Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa have been adamant DeChambeau wouldn’t cheat so I’ll take their word for it—certainly stomping around the high grass like he did wasn’t the best look.

Regardless, my beef is more with what he did after. I can give him a pass for pleading his case with rules officials after they took him back to the scene of the crime, which was one of the wildest scenes in major championship history.

But it’s what came after that was worse. First, not committing to continue playing in the tournament, which caused a delay in tee times that ticked off other players, especially Rory McIlroy. Then reportedly (via Geoff Shackelford) trying to involve President Trump(!) in the ruling. And then reportedly asking for his scorecard from that day (and being denied) after the end of the third round. Let’s just say he could have handled the situation a LOT better.

Cameron Young’s Sunday finish: Man, that was tough. Especially as a fellow Westchester/Wake Forest guy who may or may not have had a few pounds placed on this young lad. But seriously, you play an incredible round of golf, you barely miss hitting a great drive on 18, you go for a bold (possibly dumb) shot and don’t pull it off, then you make a good bogey and wait around for more than two hours, most of the time looking like you’re going to be at least in a playoff, and then you lose to an improbably walk-off birdie.

Again, tough. Young now has five top-three finishes, including a pair of one-shot runners-up at the Open (Sam Burns suddenly finds himself in a similar position with these close calls at majors). He’s a great golfer, but it has to hurt to be that close to being an all-time great golfer. At least, there’s still plenty of time for him to get it done. And, hopefully, I’ll have money on him again when he does.

Cameron Young’s Monday flight: Talk about adding insult to injury. Young boarded an early flight the following morning and according to freelance golf photographer Matt Hahn, was sitting in the seat directly in front of Ryan Fox, who put the claret jug in the overhead compartment above them and regaled passengers with his tale of triumph:

Poor Cam. There are flight delays and cancellations and lost bags (Sorry, Chris Gotterup) at a seemingly record rate these days, but that might be the all-time worst travel break.

The PGA Tour season rolls on with the 3M Open, AKA that one they play in Minnesota. It's a much weaker field than last week as you can imagine other than World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler randomly playing. Must be a big fan of lakes. Elsewhere, the LPGA heads to the Women’s Scottish Open and LIV Golf is having its U.K. event. But another major also continues with a doubleheader of matches in the Golf Digest Match Play championship scheduled for Wednesday, including myself taking on defending champ, Patrick Andrews. Wish me luck, because I need it.

Random tournament fact: Jhonattan Vegas in 2024 is the only non-American to win the 3M Open in its seven-year history. What does that mean? No clue, but it's a random tournament fact.

—Bryson and Rory will be exchanging Christmas cards this year: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

—Scottie Scheffler will win at TPC Twin Cities this week: 2.5(!)-to-1-odds

—TPC Twin Cities will NOT be mistaken for Royal Birkdale: LOCK

The best part of this is that a bunch of people made similar jokes … and then it turned out to be true!

Thanks to Min Woo Lee for capturing Ryan Fox wasting no time (yet again) to get some red wine into the claret jug:

In fact, he filled that thing up so quickly that he had to empty it out to take more celebratory photos. So Fox now has two unofficial speed-related records between this and that quick winning putt.

If you were playing a British Open drinking game involving the phrase “Firm and Fast,” you would have been passed out before the tournament even started. But on Sunday, NBC finally gave us the perfect visual of this by having Jim “Bones” Mackay bounce a basketball off Royal Birkdale’s baked-out fairways:

Nice job by Bones, but his dribbling could use some work.

Tiger Woods randomly tweeting to support Tommy Fleetwood like everyone else at Royal Birkdale who went wild all week for their local hero:

Oh, wait. Tiger was only doing that because Tommy was wearing Sun Day Red. More touching was the camera catching Ryan Fox Facetiming his family just minutes after he claimed the claret jug:

Great stuff. But talk about being brought back to reality quickly as a dad with his wife peppering him with questions about when he’d be coming home.

Days after claiming his third American Century Championship, Mardy Fish appeared on the Rich Eisen Show still wearing his winning white lab coat (a new tradition started this year) from Lake Tahoe. And he told a wild story about withdrawing $15K(!) in cash from the bank ahead of his only time playing with Michael Jordan:

Fortunately for Fish, he didn’t have to wager nearly that much. And he wound up getting into MJ’s wallet. Which might be more impressive than all his celebrity golf titles.

“I think we've got four major champions from New Zealand now: Michael Campbell, Lydia Ko, a multi-major champion, and Sir Bob, so to be able to join them is amazing. To have my own little piece of history, too, it's ... I don't know if it's something I've dreamed of. I don't know if it's something I ever thought was possible, but we're here now.” —Great, humble words from the CHAMPION GOLFER OF THE YEAR. And bonus points for making sure to mention Lydia Ko on the list of New Zealand golf greats.

Congrats to Notah Begay III on winning the 2026 Payne Stewart Award. The video of him finding out is fantastic:

Congrats to Stefano Mazzoli on winning the opposite-field Corales Puntacana Championship. The 29-year-old Italian had missed the cut in his only two other career PGA Tour starts, but now has more full-field PGA Tour titles than Tommy Fleetwood. Just saying. … The R&A announced Adam Scott as the inaugural winner of the Spirit of Golf Award. Funny, because the HGGA Championship, AKA my annual buddies trip, has been giving out a Spirit of the Commissioner Award (renamed the Spirit of Roks Award, RIP) for more than three decades. Also, just saying. … Congrats to 16-year-old Canadian Clairey Lin on winning the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur. It’s the second year in a row that a Canadian has won the event so a Canadian golf takeover could be on the horizon. … And, finally, hopefully we have a future U.S. Girls’ Junior winner on our hands with our youngest, Maddie, who chose to go to “the place with the Angry Birds” game for a recent “Daddy-Maddie Day”:

That photo could also double as an ad for Golf Ranch. You’re welcome, Golf Ranch.

What’s the most egregious TIO situation in golf history?

How much would you be willing to lose to Michael Jordan in golf?

Do I need to reach out to a sports psychologist?