2026 Open leaderboard, grades: Ryan Fox completes epic comeback with birdie on 72nd hole to win Claret Jug

After holding the solo lead on the back nine, Si Woo Kim finishes tied for 6th at 6 under. It's his best career finish in a major championship, but it'll take some time for him to stop thinking of Sunday's 72 as a disappointment given the opportunity he had when he was 10 under. Some bad breaks and poor decisions cost Kim, but he continues to be a top 10 machine and will notch his 10th of the season. 

There will be some high drama on the 18th hole at Royal Birkdale as Ryan Fox was unable to make a good look at birdie on the 17th to take a one-shot lead, and now needs par at the last to force a three-hole playoff -- or a birdie to win outright. Sam Burns will need to snap his run of 11 straight pars and make a rare birdie at the last if he's going to join them, after Burns couldn't make birdie from 200 yards out on the 573-yard par 5 after hooking his second left into the fescue. 

Barring a holeout eagle on the 18th, Si Woo Kim will finish just shy of his first major championship. Kim had the lead alone early on the back nine but things got tight late and three bogeys down the stretch cost him dearly. He hit a beauty of a second into the par-5 17th that did not get the result it perhaps deserved, scuttling through the green and over the back, leaving him with a tough chip and he couldn't get it up-and-down. That will send him to the 18th at 7 under, two off the lead, and while he won't win he's in a great spot to post the best finish in a major of his career. 

Bryson DeChambeau's wild week comes to an end with a thud. A 2-over 72 on a day where he just didn't have much of anything working for him ends his week at 4 under, currently good for a T14 finish. DeChambeau's round was scratchy from the start and he scrambled admirably to save par after par, but a triple bogey on the 11th ended any hopes of a miraculous finish. 

He was the story of the championship for much of the first three days, as the drama surrounding a rules controversy on the 5th hole on Friday dragged on deep into the night, with DeChambeau being assessed a two-shot penalty after the round and him then hitting range balls as darkness fell on Royal Birkdale. While he managed those emotions well on Saturday, to get to 6 under heading into the final round, DeChambeau never found the same level of ball-striking that got him into the mix over the first two days and was unable to mount a real charge at the top of the leaderboard. 

He did salvage something from his 2026 season after missing the cut in the first three majors, but will head into an offseason of uncertainty with plenty to figure out as he becomes a free agent this fall. 

If things hold as they stand now with Cameron Young and Ryan Fox at 9 under, we will head to a playoff at Royal Birkdale. The Open Championship playoff format is a three-hole aggregate, which would be played on the 14th, 15th and 18th holes.

That would start with one of the easiest holes on the par-5 14th before two of the hardest on the property with the brutally long par-3 15th and the long, dangerous par-4 18th to close. Ryan Fox will have two holes to try and avoid that scenario -- while Sam Burns hopes to make it a three-way battle. 

After grinding out a bogey on the 15th from a horrific lie in the bunker, Fox bounced right back with a birdie on the 16th, playing the par 3 to perfection with a drive down the middle, a wedge just left of the flag and then poured in the putt up the hill. That got him back into a share of the lead at 9 under as he strides to the 17th tee, where he'll have one last good birdie opportunity on the par 5 before having to navigate the extremely tough 18th. 

It wasn't the fairytale ending Fleetwood was hoping for at home in Southport, but he got quite the ovation coming up the 18th fairway and paid it off with one last birdie to give the home fans something to roar about. Fleetwood finishes with a final round 68 and is tied for fourth alongside Scottie Scheffler in the clubhouse at 7 under. 

Fleetwood had it going early in his round, getting to 8 under after three early birdies, but he couldn't keep up that pace, making three straight bogeys as he made the turn to effectively end his chances at The Open he wanted so desperately. Still, it was quite the week for Fleetwood who gave the fans plenty to cheer for and he ought to feel very good about his effort given all the emotions of the week. 

Having been in and out of the lead all day, Si Woo Kim now needs to push his chips into the center after a poor, poor bogey on No. 16. From the middle of the fairway, he chased a tucked right pin, missed short and right and was not able to save from roughly 25 feet. At 7 under and two behind, the good news for Kim is No. 17 is a par 5 that has already yielded a few eagles today in addition to plenty of birdies.

Ryan Fox came up two yards short of a perfect tee shot on the long par-3 15th and instead found himself hitting a bunker shot the opposite direction of the pin after his ball nestled just inside the back lip of the bunker leaving him nothing. 

Fox's recovery shot for his third was classy to limit the damage to just one shot and he's far from the first to make bogey on the 15th, but holding the lead at The Open and having to play backwards has to be a brutal feeling, sliding back to 8 under in the process. In the same group, Burns executed the tee shot Fox was trying to hit, but burned the edge with his birdie putt to stay at 8 under himself. 

Fox makes it back-to-back birdies after taking care of business on the par-5 14th, hitting a terrific chip from the fescue left of the green to inside 3 feet to set it up. Fox is now back to 9 under, where he got to early in his round with a birdie on the 2nd, and is tied with Cameron Young for the lead. 

He and Sam Burns, who couldn't birdie the 14th after getting into the greenside bunker in two, will head to the tough par-3 15th before getting two solid looks at birdie on the 16th and 17th holes to try and get ahead of Young who remains in great position in the clubhouse. 

The final pairing have not had the round they were hoping for after a strong start, but they continue to scratch and claw to hang around near the top of the leaderboard as they hit the scoreable stretch of Royal Birkdale's back nine. 

Sam Burns hit a horrible tee shot with an iron and had more than 240 yards in, but made a 27-footer to save par from the front of the green to stay at 8 under, just one back of Cam Young's lead in the clubhouse. 

Ryan Fox, meanwhile, hit the best drive of the day on No. 13 and had a flip wedge in from just over 100 yards, paying that off by just sneaking his birdie putt inside the right lip to get back to 8 under where he began his day. 

Data Golf now has -9 as a 70% chance to be the winning score by day's end. That is where Cameron Young stands as he continues to wait around in the clubhouse. He spoke to the media following his round about his mindset.

"I thought 10 had a decent chance. I've played around the lead in majors enough to know that scraping out even par on a Sunday in a major championship can be really difficult. So you figure those guys at the top, somebody's probably going to make a run, but I was just close enough where I felt like maybe the lead could stay the same. Right now that's holding true. So we'll see where we are at the end of the day."

As for what he will do,

"I'll probably just go get something to eat. Frankly, I'll probably start packing up my locker either way just for efficiency's sake later on."

Scheffler's insane break on the 17th will not end up as a true controversy as he could not make it three consecutive birdies to close out his round, ramming a birdie attempt from off the green well past the hole and failing to make the par putt after it. That drops Scheffler back to 7 under, which is currently second in the clubhouse, two shots behind Cameron Young after a final round 67. 

The story of the week for Scheffler was a putter that would not cooperate and that was especially true on Sunday. He had his opportunities to defend his Open title, but will settle for another likely top 5 finish in a major, as his 2026 will end without a fifth major title. 

While Scottie Scheffler's drop shenanigans were happening in front, the leader of The Open was making a mess of the 11th hole after driving it in a fairway bunker off the tee. Kim could only advance it halfway to the hole from there and left himself in the fescue, having to play well left of the flag with his third and couldn't make a long birdie putt to stay at -10. He backed that up with his worst iron swing of the day on the 12th, tugging it short and left on the par 3 and left a putt from down in the bowl below the green well short to make another bogey and fall back to 8 under. 

With those bogeys, Cameron Young is now in the lead alone in the clubhouse at 9 under and that might just be good enough to win outright with the way everyone is playing on the back nine currently. 

Scheffler is, somehow, still alive despite hitting his second shot on the 17th hole a mile left of the green. Despite being lost in the jungle behind the hospitality grandstand left of the green, Scheffler was granted a free drop on the line the ball went in on because it would've been TIO relief from wherever his ball ended up. That break has allowed Scheffler to hit his third to 11 feet away and after making just his second putt of over 10 feet today, he is one back of the lead, needing a birdie at the last to join Cameron Young in the clubhouse at 9 under. 

There will not be any grand controversy over DeChambeau's finish as it relates to the two-stroke penalty he received on Friday night. DeChambeau has had a brutal driving and ball-striking day but scrambled his way through the first 10 holes at 1 over. That luck came to an end on the 11th when he hit his drive into thick fescue, hacked it barely forward for his second and then flew his third into some extremely thick fescue long and right of the green that no one saw and they never found. After going back to take a drop and hit his 5th, he found the green and two-putt for a triple-bogey 7 that drops him all the way back to 2 under, eight shots off the lead. 

After a birdie on the 16th, Scheffler still had an opportunity to run the tables and join Cam Young in the clubhouse at 9 under. The big need was a good drive on the par-5 17th to give himself a shot at getting on the green in two for a look at eagle, and he pulled 3 wood expecting to sling one in and run it down the fairway short of the cross bunkers on the right. 

The problem was, his ball hung up in the rough near the left bunker and the reaction from Scheffler on the tee to seeing his ball not bounce was, well...just take a look and listen. 

It's an extremely relatable reaction for any golfer, but not one we're too accustomed to seeing from the world No. 1. He's felt aggrieved by some bad bounces and breaks this week, especially on the greens, and it seems that all came to a head on the 17th. 

Making matters worse his second went well left and had to hit a provisional as his first shot may have ended up deep in the gorse and lost forever. 

Every player is now on the back nine at Royal Birkdale and The 2026 Open Championship is still very much up for grabs. The two in the final pairing will both make the turn at 8 under, as Sam Burns had an adventurous front nine that saw him briefly move to 11 under before giving three shots back in the middle and having to really stabilize himself late on the front side to shoot a 2-over 36.

Fox was steady until the 9th when an errant second went long and his first chip ended up rolling back to his feet. He did scramble for his bogey to shoot an even-par 34 on the front and both he and Burns make the turn needing to make up ground on Si Woo Kim at 10 under -- and Cam Young in the clubhouse at 9 under. 

Scheffler needed to get to 9 under in the clubhouse alongside Cameron Young to have any chance at defending his title, but a bogey on the 15th after another poor putt for par has all but ended his chances as he'll need to run the tables on Nos. 16, 17 and 18 to get to that -9 number. 

Scheffler's putting woes have been genuinely shocking, as he has made a total of 56 feet of putts in 15 holes today -- with just one make over 10 feet. He gave himself chance after chance early to put the pedal down, but as has been the story all week he failed to capitalize on opportunities and put his ball-striking under too much pressure to hold up. 

After three early birdies it looked like the hometown hero might just get it done in Southport, but the wheels have come off as Fleetwood has made the turn at Royal Birkdale. Three consecutive bogeys on Nos. 9, 10 and 11 have him back at 5 under, five shots back of Si Woo Kim and outside the top 10. It's hard to envision Fleetwood having enough time to turn things around and get into the clubhouse at 9 under to match Cam Young at this point, much less post something lower. 

The clubhouse lead is now 9 under after Cameron Young had quite the adventure at the closing hole. Young found a fairway bunker off the tee and tried to hit the hero shot but instead hit the sand in front of the face of the bunker (and got a lucky break to ride up the face and have it spit out sideways into a thin lie in the fescue). From there he leaked his third right into the greenside bunker and nearly holed it from there for a miracle par, but instead walked off the 18th with a bogey 5 and will be thinking about that second shot for quite some time. 

Despite that closing bogey, a final round 64 from Young will keep him in the mix given the stiffening conditions at Royal Birkdale. Si Woo Kim is the only man ahead of him on the leaderboard currently, and with every player in those final groups vying for the win all in search of their first major title, the nerves on the back nine will be felt by everyone. 

Si Woo Kim now has company as Cameron Young gets to 10 under with a birdie on his 71st hole. He made the two birdies that he absolutely had to on the par-5 14th and the par-5 17th. Can he grab another and tie the major championship scoring record with a 62 or at the very least make par on the difficult par-4 18th which is playing as the second-hardest hole today?

A birdie on No. 5 is followed up by an unlikely one of the difficult par-4 6th for Si Woo Kim, who is now the solo leader at The Open. Kim reaches 10 under and one clear of Cameron Young and Ryan Fox. Sam Burns is also 9 under but will drop at least one more on No. 6 after finding the water off the tee, marking his third straight hole over par.

Kim is aiming to become the first Asian golfer to raise the Claret Jug as Champion Golfer of the Year. He is also seeking his first PGA Tour victory since 2023.

The 5th hole should've been a bounce back opportunity for Sam Burns but instead it turned into a disaster. After driving it a bit left he had a straight forward pitch back up the green but jammed it past the hole and sent it off the back of the green. From there he jammed his putt past the hole and down the ridge in front of the hole and could not salvage his par, walking off with back-to-back bogeys to fall to 9 under, now tied with Cam Young, Si Woo Kim and Ryan Fox. 

After a gorgeous approach on the 8th, Tommy Fleetwood paid it off with a birdie roll to get to 3 under on his round and 8 under for the tournament, now just two shots back of Sam Burns. 

Fleetwood's roars sound a good bit different from anyone else's this week, and the rest of the field will have certainly heard that noise coming from the 8th green. He now heads to the gettable 9th, where there's a chance he could make the turn in 30 and really raise the volume at Royal Birkdale. 

Hey now! It is about damn time the world No. 1 got one to fall, and it could not have come at a better time. Scottie Scheffler is back on the move as he connects from just inside 15 feet on the par-3 12th to put his fourth birdie on the scorecard and get within two — yes, two strokes — of Sam Burns who stands at 10 under. This tournament is getting very, very interesting with Scheffler (-8 through 12) and Young (-9 through 14) trying to post something for the final pairings to look at.

Burns' lead is now just one over Cameron Young and Ryan Fox, as the first sign of nerves from Burns arrived at the 4th when he came up woefully short with a pitch from short of the green on the long par 3 and couldn't save his par. Burns will try to erase that bogey on the drivable 5th coming up, but sliding back to 10 under where he began the day has certainly left the door ajar for the chasers to feel like they're very much in the mix. 

It took longer than he'd like to put another birdie on the card, but after four straight pars to start the back nine, Young carded a birdie on the par-5 14th has him to 9 under and into a tie for 2nd. 

With the wind picking up and starting to blow at upwards of 20 mph, if Young can get into the clubhouse at 10 or 11 under par he will certainly have to stick around to see if that holds up and gets him into a playoff (or an outright win).