The Round Table: Ryan Fox, Bryson DeChambeau and Royal Birkdale

Each week, we ask our panel of writers, PGA members and golf industry experts to weigh in with their views on the hot topics of the day.

Ryan Fox of New Zealand closed out his final nine at the Open Championship in brilliant form to snatch victory from clubhouse leader Cameron Young. Fox made birdie on four of his last six holes including the last at Royal Birkdale to hold off playing partner Sam Burns and etch his name on the Claret Jug. What was your biggest takeaway from Fox winning the Championship?

Jim Deeks, Fairways Magazine (@jimdeeks): Boy, talk about a guy just going about his business… a masterclass of confidence, ability, confidence, patience, confidence, and speed!!  Ryan Fox should be the poster guide for how to play golf from now on: just get up and hit it.  And what a humble, happy, natural guy.  My takeaway: if this was a flash-in-the-pan, let it be one of the happiest and most memorable of all time.

Craig Loughry, Golf Ontario (@craigloughry): My biggest takeaway was Fox’s composure (oh, and pace of play). Plenty of players can make birdies when things are going their way, but closing out an Open on a tough links course with the Claret Jug on the line is a different matter. Four birdies over the final six holes showed real nerve. He didn’t back into it—he went and took it. That’s a champion’s finish and a well-deserved breakthrough major victory. He makes a great Champion.

Michael Schurman, Master Professional / Hall of Fame Member, PGA of Canada: Sam Burns is too good to not win a major. He will do it! Ryan Fox showed true grit persevering some of the bad breaks he got on the back nine. He didn’t blink. He just played the course as it was given to him. I can think of a multitude of players who would have been whining like a scalded dog if they had similar situations. Imagine the ruckus if a certain past champion who drove his ball 80 yards right into the driving range would have reacted. He will be a fine champion.

TJ Rule, Golf Away ours (@GolfAwayTJ): That he’s fun to watch.  What an impressive performance, and all while not taking long to hit each shot.  I wish all pros approached the game like Ryan Fox.  His 72nd hole was one of the most impressive final holes in major championship golf.  No fear, just rip driver and flag an 8 iron in the biggest golf moment of your life.  It was great to see him crowned champion, a very worth Champion Golfer of the Year!

Hal Quinn, Freelance Writer, Vancouver: Well, it has become a talking point now, but while watching I was enamoured by his pace of play. No need to list the usual turtles on the PGA Tour, but the new NFL/Tour Commish should sit them all down in a locked room and have them watch Fox’s final round. As he said: “It’s not that difficult to see a shot and pick a club!” Not it ain’t, but so many pros and too many amateurs imitating the pros think it’s the most difficult thing in their week. Here’s to Kiwis everywhere. That was brilliant.

Peter Mumford, Fairways Magazine: I used to play a lot of golf with a turtle that would always pull two clubs on every approach, swing them both, sometimes repeat the process, until some mystical voice would tell him the correct selection. He was a very good player but agonizing to watch. Too many current pros adopt similar time-wasting pre-shot routines. Ryan Fox is a breath of fresh air and very deserving of the Claret Jug. As they say back in New Zealand, “Good on ya, mate!”

During Friday’s second round, Bryson DeChambeau was shown trampling some fescue behind his ball which presumably improved his lie. After completing his round, he was taken back to the scene of the crime by R&A officials for an explanation. When an adequate one was not forthcoming, the American YouTuber was assessed a two-stroke penalty. BDC whined and moaned and threatened to withdraw but ultimately showed up on the weekend. What’s your take on the penalty and DeChambeau’s behaviour?

Deeks: If I may borrow the following: “Yeah, look, I won’t pretend to be up here and defend Bryson. I’m not particularly fond of him.”  My sentiments exactly.  Nonetheless, I thought the penalty was unfair.   How could they prove his footwork improved the lie or the swing path?  And whatever happened to the concept of “benefit of the doubt”?  But DeChambeau’s subsequent behaviour was beyond-belief childish.   He should have been given a two-minute deadline to declare his intention to play or not and disqualified if he didn’t give an immediate answer.  (I don’t know who I like less now: DeChambeau or Reed.)

Loughry: The penalty was ABSOLUTELY the correct call. The rules apply equally whether you’re the world number one, a qualifier, or a YouTube star. If officials determined he improved his lie/area of intended swing and he couldn’t provide a convincing explanation, then a penalty should be the outcome. The bigger issue was the reaction. Frustration is understandable, but threatening to withdraw and carrying on publicly rarely reflects well on a player. Accept it, move on, and let your golf do the talking. But he’s Bryson, love or hate him.

Schurman: Before Bryson got to his ball, spectators walked behind it trampling grass which shouldn’t be allowed to happen. Rules Officials are readily available all the time. A Ruling like this should have been made on the spot just like any other sport. His attitude shows the ‘real’ person.

Rule: What an embarrassing situation for Bryson, and I’m glad some of the players called him out on it.  It was clearly a breach of the rules and he was caught.  Just accept it like a gentleman and move on. Just when I was starting to like him a bit after his US Open win, this just knocked him back down to where he likely belongs, next to P Reed and Wyndham Clark on the list of unlikeable players.

Quinn: It was like a first-grader being sent to the principal’s office and whining: “Can I call my Daddy?” Rory’s comments were right on — good on ya calling it ‘performative’ — and his saying a bunch of guys watching in the players’ room said: that doesn’t look right! None came forward to disagree! DeChambeau’s ‘I-me-me-my’ threat to withdraw (surely the record crowds would have evaporated and global TV ratings plummeted, right?) his request to call Mr. No-Red-Card Drumph sums up why the game is so much better off with that ego lost in the LIV wilderness.

Mumford: In this day and age, when you don’t like a ruling or red card or an election result, it’s become common to whine and moan, say it was rigged or unfair, and look to have it overturned. BDC epitomized that, even though he knew he was wrong. Unlike FIFA, the R&A held firm. Too bad there’s not a further penalty they can assess for boorish, immature ‘entitled’ behaviour.

Royal Birkdale appeared to be burnt out on TV and commentators called it baked. There were several scores of 62 on the par 70 course but the winning score was still only 10-under. The R&A seemed very pleased with the course set-up and the outcome. How did you see it?

Deeks: I said to my friend on Sunday, “I bet Americans watching this would be saying ‘What the HELL are these guys playing on??!  This is a cow pasture!’”  To the uninitiated, it seems that way indeed. For those of us who have played links courses, Birkdale looked totally terrific, in my view, and full of the usual good-luck and bad-luck bounces.  Yes, 62 was possible, but the final score, achieved with a miraculous birdie on the final hole, declared that Royal Birkdale is truly a seductress; but one who will submit only to the most patient and confident of all her suitors.

Loughry: I thought the R&A got it right. The course looked firm, fast, and demanding, which is exactly what I want from an Open venue, it was cool. Yes, there were some very low rounds, but that’s more a reflection of modern players taking advantage when conditions allowed. A winning score of 10-under isn’t a birdie barrage and proves the course still had plenty of bite. Good shots were rewarded, poor ones punished, and the championship produced an exciting finish. That’s a successful setup IMO.

Schurman:  Many bunkers in the UK are called ‘gathering’ bunkers. During construction, a large area surrounding them is shaped like a funnel. Balls that appear to be well away, roll on the hard ground into the large ‘catch’ basin and down into the bunker. Shots that teeter over the edge end up tight to the ‘wall’ and bring a lot of luck into the outcome. If courses were maintained more in this manner, the game would return to being a ‘ground’ game and less in the air. The cost of maintenance would come down. The need to lengthen courses wouldn’t be so much. The average player would only need 8 or 9 clubs. Shooting 62 could easily have become 66 or 67 with one or two different rolls but they are fun to watch. One thing I did enjoy is the manner of decorum by the fans. It seems the Europeans shipped their undesirables to America in the 1800s.

Rule: I think the course was perfect.  It was baked out but didn’t play as spicy as Hoylake did when Tiger won in 2006.  The course wasn’t that firm really, considering how baked out it looked.  Guys were able to spin wedges and hold fairways, and obviously the rough was less than penal, so they could blast driver all over the place and get out of jail when necessary.  I think 10 under is a very respectable winning score for an Open, and I think the course showed very well on TV.

Quinn: At the end of the day, as they say over there, it was brilliant. Sadly, the grande olde course was modified and in cases dramatically changed to accommodate the new ball/equipment/fitness era, but the record low scores were in the mornings before the wind came up (as it always does off the Irish Sea). Some adapted to 30-40 yard roll outs on irons off the tee better than others. Some avoided the brilliant riveted bunkers (or played incredible one-kneed or otherwise awkward shots) better than others. Some putted extremely well, others didn’t (hello Scottie). At the end of that memorable Sunday, there was a Champion Golfer who handled it all. Royal Birkdale, as usual, provided a memorable Open.

Mumford: None of the low scores led to a runaway. On the contrary, players were bunched heading to the final round with over a dozen in position to win. That is as it should be and I think the R&A did an admirable job of setting up the course. On top of that, it was a very entertaining final, with the outcome undecided until the final putt.