SOUTHPORT, England — Ryan Fox hit his tee shot from the final group of the day on the final day of The Open Championship, started to walk and politely turned to a marshal walking nearby.“It always this quiet on a Sunday?” he asked.Nobody at Royal Birkdale seemed to believe the winner could actually come from this group. The two leaders controlled this tournament, yet just a smattering of fans followed along. Small claps. No roars. No, the excitement had to be elsewhere. Yet on a day when so many of golf’s biggest stars faded from the moment, the burly, 39-year-old son of a rugby icon was the one to actually grab The Open Championship to win his first career major.And he did it the hardest way possible, heading to the unforgiving, spiteful 18th hole where so many before him handed this tournament away. He launched a driver 330 yards between the bunkers that caught nearly every ball. He hit a 176-yard 8 iron that settled just 11 feet, seven inches from the pin.And a man with 19 professional wins across the world but who’s never finished better than 16th in a major? He had the nerve to sink the biggest putt of his life and conquer the title of champion golfer of the year. He heard the roars, finally.He becomes just the fourth Kiwi to win a major championship, joining Sir Bob Charles (1963), Michael Campbell (2005) and Lydia Ko (three titles).