The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale: Result, Final Scores & FAQ

The 154th Open finished on Sunday 19 July 2026, and it finished properly: Ryan Fox holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the last green at Royal Birkdale to win his first major championship by a single shot. This page — which began life as a pre-championship primer — is now the plain-English record of what happened, with the deeper statistical work linked throughout.

The result

Fox closed with a 68 to finish at 10 under par, one clear of Cameron Young (−9). Sam Burns, who took the lead into Sunday, finished third at 8 under. Scottie Scheffler — the defending champion — and Tommy Fleetwood shared fourth. Si Woo Kim held the lead at one stage during a final afternoon that changed hands more than once before Fox settled it at the 72nd.

The winning score is worth a second look. Jordan Spieth won the last Birkdale Open, in 2017, at 12 under. Fox won this one at 10 under on a course that had been through its biggest redesign in decades — five holes altered, a new long par 3 at the 15th, and an 18th stretched to 508 yards from a new tee. That closing hole, which we'd flagged before the championship as the biggest single change, ended up producing the winning birdie. Our full analysis of how the course played is in the updated Birkdale course profile, and our marking of our own preview is in The Open 2026: what the model got right and wrong.

The championship in brief

It was the eleventh Open at Birkdale since 1954 — only St Andrews has staged more — and the first since 2017. The field of 156 was assembled through exemptions, Final Qualifying on 30 June, the Open Qualifying Series (which concluded at the Genesis Scottish Open on 12 July), and, for the first time, a Last-Chance Qualifier played at Birkdale itself on the Monday of Open week, where twelve players contested one final place over the championship course.

Frequently asked questions

Who won The Open 2026?
Ryan Fox, at 10 under par, beating Cameron Young by one shot with a birdie on the final hole. It was his first major championship.

What was the final leaderboard at the top?
Fox −10; Young −9; Burns −8 (having led into the final round); Scheffler and Fleetwood tied fourth.

Where was the 2026 Open played?
Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Merseyside — the venue's eleventh Open and first since Jordan Spieth's 2017 win.

How did the redesigned course hold up?
The winning score was two shots higher than 2017's, and the stiffened 508-yard 18th decided the championship. Players had long called Birkdale the fairest course on the rota; the redesign didn't change that so much as sharpen the examination.

Was there really a qualifier during Open week?
Yes — a first-ever Last-Chance Qualifier on the Monday, in which twelve players competed at Birkdale for the final spot in the field.

Where can I see how the data read the week?
Our results archive logs every selection, win or miss, at proplace.golf/results. We're a research platform, not a tipster — we publish where the model disagrees with the market and we show our working.

ProPlace is a statistical research service. We do not accept stakes and we are not a tipster. Past performance is not a guide to future results.

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