SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — More than a British Open champion, Ryan Fox has become the new face of playing quickly in a sport that could use a good example.
Perhaps the best illustration came during the most important moment of his life. He had a 12-foot birdie putt to win his first major, pressure as great as can be found in golf. The 39-year-old Fox took all of 22 seconds to send it on its way.
He chose his words carefully Sunday evening to make sure
he didn't offend.
“I need to make sure this comes across right,” Fox said. “It’s not that difficult to pick a shot and pick a club. I get in there, and it all happens quick. It's always going to be between one or two clubs into a green, and I just see the shot quickly, pick a shot quickly, and the less time I have to think about it, the less bad stuff can creep in there.”
It was all good Sunday — the perfect drive, the perfect 9-iron, the perfect putt.
Fox joins a short list of players renowned for getting on with it during the big money era — Joe Ogilvie and Bill Haas, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, Lucas Glover and Matt Jones.
Fox was asked if anyone was quicker than him, and he mentioned Renato Paratore of Italy.
“He used to hit while his name was getting announced on the first tee,” Fox said.
He also shared a story involving Scottie Scheffler, who did not make the list. He said they played in a threesome during the WM Phoenix Open.
“I can't work out if this was a burn or a compliment,” Fox said, “We walk off the ninth tee and he goes: ‘Foxy, it doesn’t even feel like you're in the group. It just feels like we're playing in a two-ball, you hit so fast.'
“It's just always how I've played,” Fox said. “I'm kind of glad I kept that routine down the stretch.”
Notah Begay III has been chosen to receive the Payne Stewart Award, an honor that dates to 2000 and has become one of the highest awards for a PGA Tour member. It honors character, sportsmanship and charity commitments.
Along with his four PGA Tour victories and being the only full-blooded Native American on the tour, Bay founded the NB3 Foundation, which emphasizes health and wellness challenges facing Native American youth and their communities.
“Notah Begay III has always used his platform to make a meaningful and lasting impact, particularly within his Native American communities, and that ongoing work no doubt reflects the values of character, compassion and leadership that define the Payne Stewart Award,” PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said.
Begay will be honored on Aug. 25 in Atlanta during the Tour Championship. The award was created after the death of Payne Stewart in a plane crash in October 1999, the year he won the U.S. Open.
“Payne Stewart represented the very best of our game, not only in how he competed, but in how he lived his life and gave back to others,” Begay said. “To be associated with his legacy is truly special. Golf has given me a platform to serve, and I’ve always believed it’s our responsibility to use that platform to uplift others, especially the next generation.”
The 3M Open this week in Minnesota starts a three-week stretch to determine the top 70 who reach the lucrative PGA Tour postseason.
Among those on the outside of the top 70 are Keegan Bradley at No. 72, and Brooks Koepka, who returned from LIV Golf but is at No. 82 in the standings. One spot behind him is Tony Finau.
PGA champion Aaron Rai, meanwhile, missed the cut at the British Open and is the only major champion to be outside the top 30. Rai is at No. 33.
South African golfers are used to traveling, and Casey Jarvis has quite the itinerary going.
Jarvis, who won back-to-back weeks on the European tour in February and March, began his journey at the Italian Open. He went to the BMW International Open in Germany the following week, then to the Scottish Open and the British Open at Birkdale.
And now it's off to Minnesota. Jarvis closed with a 66 on Sunday to tie for sixth, and the top-10 finish got him into the 3M Open at the TPC Twin Cities. His top 10 also gets him into the British Open next year at St. Andrews.
“I didn’t expect to be in this position competing against the best players in the world,” Jarvis said. “I didn't see myself coming top 10 in The Open. The last seven months have been a little bit of a blur.”
Xander Schauffele extended his streak of 19 consecutive cuts made in the majors, one ahead of Scottie Scheffler. They were among 14 players who made the cut in all four majors this year.
Schauffele hasn't missed a cut since the 2022 Masters, while Scheffler last missed at the PGA Championship a month later in 2022.
Corey Conners is the only other player to have made all four major cuts in each of the last three years, his last weekend off at a major coming at the 2023 U.S. Open.
The other players to make every cut in a major this year: Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama, Ludvig Aberg, Chris Gotterup, Ben Griffin, Michael Brennan, Justin Thomas and Kurt Kitayama.
The flip side was Harry Hall, the only player to miss the cut in all four majors.
Along with being a good bloke, Ryan Fox is an engraver’s dream. The seven letters in his name for the base of the claret jug were the fewest since Ted Ray won the British Open in 1912. ... Adam Scott's consecutive major streak reached 101 in a row at the British Open, and he's in the Masters for life, so it will go to No. 102 in April. Scott also is assured of being back at the British Open next year. He tied for ninth at Royal Birkdale with a 66 in the final round. ... Fox (No. 56) is the first player outside the top 50 to win the British Open since Darren Clarke was at No. 111 when he won in 2011 at Royal St. George's. ... Ryan Fox moved to No. 2 in the Presidents Cup standings for the International team and would figure to be a lock for the matches at Medinah in September.
Cameron Young was No. 4 in the world when he won the Cadillac Championship at Doral on May 3. He is the last player to win on the PGA Tour while being ranked in the top 10.
“It’s going to ruin a lot of guys’ Monday mornings." — Ryan Fox, on what impact his British Open title would have in his native New Zealand.
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