Ryan Fox wins Canadian Open with 'best shot I've ever hit' in playoff to beat Sam Burns
Associated Press
CALEDON, Ontario (AP) — Ryan Fox of New Zealand won for the second time in five weeks on the PGA Tour with another memorable shot in a playoff, this time a 3-wood to 7 feet on the fourth extra hole Sunday to beat Sam Burns in the RBC Canadian Open.
Fox won the Myrtle Beach Classic last month by chipping in for birdie to win a three-man playoff. This one on the TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley took a little longer.
What turned out to be the winning shot might be more memorable. Fox smoked a 3-wood that landed softly just left of the pin and settled 7 feet away. Burns pulled his 3-wood some 55 feet left of the front right pin. He ran his eagle putt 8 feet by and missed that one.
Fox missed his eagle try before tapping in for birdie.
'To be honest, Sam and I had a bit of a pillow fight for three holes,' Fox said. 'But that shot I hit on 18, that 3-wood, was probably the best shot I've ever hit. It would have been nice to make the putt. But hey, I'll take it.'
Fox holed a birdie putt from just inside 18 feet on the par-5 18th in regulation for a 4-under 66 that allowed him to join Sam Burns at 18-under 262. Burns had finished some two hours earlier with a birdie on the final hole for a 62.
They played the 18th four more times — the PGA Tour moved the pin position from far left to front right after two extra holes — and there was nothing compelling about the extra holes.
Burns, regarded as one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, had a birdie putt from just over 5 feet on the first playoff for the win. He left that out to the right. The next time down 18, Fox went for the green and pushed his 3-wood. The collar of rough stopped it from going in the water. He pitched to 12 feet and had that birdie putt for the win, but left it a foot short.
Pillow fight, indeed.
On the third time playing the 18th in overtime, Burns had a lob wedge that was short and to the right, spinning off the green and nearly into the water. Fox hit his 40 feet out to the right. They both made par.
Fox delivered the goods on the final hole and now has two wins in just over a month. The victory moved the 38-year-old Fox from No. 75 to No. 32 in the world, getting him into the U.S. Open next week for being among the top 60 in the world ranking.
Kevin Yu birdied the last hole for a 66 to finish alone in third, one shot out of the playoff. He narrowly missed out on the top 60 to get to Oakmont next week. But Yu joined Cameron Young and Matt McCarty as earning the top three spots for the British Open next month for players not already eligible.
Fox already was in the British Open from his victory in the BMW PGA Championship in 2023, the flagship event on the European tour. Fox now has eight wins worldwide — two on the PGA Tour, four on the European tour and two on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Burns was hopeful of ending more than two years without a victory, his last title coming in the final year of the World Golf Championships-Match Play in 2023.
Young shot a 65 to tie for fourth. He was within range of Burns when Young made an incredible par on the 17th, going from the trees on the right to mangled left on the rough, gouging that out to 15 feet and making the putt.
But needing birdie on the par-5 closing hole to catch Burns, the clubhouse leader at the time, Young flushed a 3-wood into the breeze and over the green into the trees, leaving him virtually no shot. It took two to get on the green and he made bogey to finish two shots behind.
'I couldn't have hit two better shots on the last hole. I don't hit 3-wood that far, and it's blowing straight into the wind, and it decided to bounce all the way to the back woods,' Young said. 'I thought in the air I was going to have about a 12-footer to win the tournament, and it ended up somewhere I was going to struggle to make par, let alone make a 4. Pretty upset.'
___
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