Another one! Ryan Fox becomes third player to shoot 62 in 154th Open at Birkdale

Heard the one about the Australian, American and Kiwi at Royal Birkdale? Step forward Lucas Herbert, Sam Burns and Ryan Fox after the latter joined the other two in bringing the Southport venue to its knees in the 154th Open.

Twenty-four hours after Herbert and Burns both signed for 62s half an hour apart, Fox joined them in carding the lowest score in men’s major history with another scintillating effort in the third round.

In fairly benign morning conditions on Saturday, the 39-year-old stormed to the turn in 29, having reeled off seven 3s in a row from the second. He birdied the tenth before having a bit of the wind taken out of his sails by a bogey at the 13th.

Ryan Fox is congratuled by Xander Schauffele, the only player to have achieved the feat twice, after shooting his 62 in a major on day three of the The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale | Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Fox, though, wasn’t to be denied his place in the record books, with a bounceback birdie at the par-5 14th being followed by further gains at the 16th and 17th.

It means that seven 62s have now been recorded in the game’s marquee events, with Xander Schauffele, who has achieved the feat twice, getting a front-row seat this time as Fox’s playing partner.

“I feel really good, to be honest,” admitted Fox. “Being picky, I'd want a couple of drives back today maybe, but, outside of that, I feel like I didn't really miss a shot. Had a couple of great shots down the stretch, putted really nicely.”

Schauffele, the 2024 winner, was round in 66 in what Fox described as a “fun” day, adding: “Both made a bunch of birdies and kind of fed off each other. I would have taken 62 on a Saturday, that's for sure.”

The effort moved the two-time PGA Tour winner to eight under as overnight leader Herbert headed out. “I'll watch a fair bit of golf on TV and try to get a replay of the All Blacks game (against Ireland),” said the son of New Zealand legend Grant.

“I watched a decent chunk of that this morning, and I was pretty happy with that result, too (a 40-21 win for the All Blacks. Also, I just saw Shane [Lowry] on the screen, and I'm looking forward to taking 100 quid off - the little bet we had - off him!”