Brit Tommy Fleetwood missed out on becoming Open champion in the most heartbreaking way after Ryan Fox birdied the 18th to clinch victory18:43, 19 Jul 2026Updated 18:54, 19 Jul 2026New Zealander Ryan Fox won The Open with a brilliant birdie on the 18th and final hole to beat Cameron Young by a stroke.‌For a few glorious hours it felt like Tommy Fleetwood's fairytale was going to come true before Fox birdied four of the last six holes to win the Claret Jug.‌That he would become Open champion. On the course he grew up dreaming of gracing on the greatest stage. With his family, friends and a legion of supporters cheering him to the rafters.‌But then his moment in the sun turned to darkness, in the space of 60 maddening minutes which left the hometown hero heartbroken once again.As Fleetwood stood at the top of the hill on the ninth hole preparing to take aim at the pin with his approach, he was one shot off the lead. Two birdies in four holes had taken him to -8 and just two rivals were above him on the leaderboard.Then all hell broke loose as the man with one of the finest temperaments in golf suffered a meltdown in the blazing heat.‌His approach shot almost pitched in the hole, but took a firm bounce before rolling off the back of the green. He failed to get up and down and finished with a bogey, instead of what should have been a birdie.On the next hole, his tee shot ended in rough, from where he left himself a 9ft putt for par which he failed to make.‌The galleries were groaning, but worse was to come on the next hole, when Fleetwood got out of position again to leave another long putt for par. And another one he couldn't hole.Fleetwood had made it a hat-trick of bogeys at the worst possible time, and the Open bubble he'd spent all week floating around in had been well and truly burst.He found himself five shots adrift of leader Si Woo Kim with just seven holes remaining - and knew deep down his chances of landing his first Major title at the place he loves the most had gone.‌The supporters kept cheering him on, and Fleetwood gave them back two birdies, to finish with a round of 68, two shots behind clubhouse leader Cam Young.An emotional Fleetwood thumped his heart in appreciation of the thunderous support he's had, in a week of what might have beens. Four rounds in the 60s hadn't been enough.He said: "I'm going to look at me finishing two, three shots off and think what could I have done better.‌"That aside, walking up the 18th hole, I've dreamt of that as a kid and all my life. That ovation surpasses anything I can imagine."I haven't won The Open, I'd have loved to and I'll keep chasing but that was incredibly special."I was playing great and felt really good. It was just the terrible mistake on the ninth fairway. I hit it over the back and that's one place you can't hit it.Article continues below"I felt fine. I still actually felt on 12 there was a chance. I just couldn't quite do it. "When I look back, there will be things I'll learn from."