Fox feasts on birdies to grab joint lead at Open with record-equalling round

SOUTHPORT, England, July 18 : New Zealand's Ryan Fox shot a record-equalling eight-under-par 62 at the 154th British Open on Saturday, the third such score in two days at a becalmed Royal Birkdale, to move into a share of the lead.

Fox, who began the day on level par, fired nine birdies and a bogey, going out in a stunning 29.

A birdie on the par-four 18th could have given the 39-year-old the first round of 61 at a men's major, but he came up short with a long putt after a superb second shot from a bunker.

His record-equalling 62 took him to eight under for the tournament and matched the rounds of Australian Lucas Herbert and American Sam Burns on Friday.

Herbert, who tees off at 1450 GMT, missed a five-foot putt on the 18th that would have carded a historic 61.

Americans Jackson Suber, Cameron Young and Ryan Gerard are two shots behind Fox and Herbert on six under.

Prior to this year's Open, there had only been five rounds as low as 62 in the history of men's majors - South African Branden Grace's effort at the 2017 Open, also at Royal Birkdale, and those of Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele at the 2023 U.S. Open and Schauffele and Shane Lowry at the 2024 PGA Championship.

"The game plan was to be aggressive. I hit driver a lot, pretty much bar the first and nine. Your strategy changes a bit with the wind around here," Fox, who has not finished in the top 20 in nine previous Open appearances, told Sky Sports.

"It was a lot of fun to play alongside Xander as he's had a couple of 62s too."

Schauffele, the 2024 champion and Fox's playing partner, shot a four-under 66 to reach four under for the tournament.

Bryson DeChambeau, who was handed a two-shot penalty on Friday for "inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing" at the fifth hole according to the R&A, begins the third round on five under.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, aiming to become the first man since Ireland's Padraig Harrington in 2008 to retain the Claret Jug, starts his third round four shots back.