Sizzling Kiwi beats Burns in Canadian Open playoff

West Australian

a day ago

New Zealander Ryan Fox has won for the second time in five weeks on the PGA Tour with another memorable shot in a playoff to beat Sam Burns in the 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 on Sunday took a little longer.
What turned out to be the winning shot this time on the fourth extra hole might be more memorable. Fox smoked a 3-wood that landed softly just left of the pin and settled seven feet away. Burns pulled his 3-wood some 55 feet left of the flag. He ran his eagle putt eight 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 four-under 66 that allowed him to join Burns at 18-under 262. Burns (62) had finished some two hours earlier with a birdie on the final hole.
They played the 18th four more times and there was nothing compelling about the extra holes.
Fox finally delivered the goods and now has two wins in just over a month, propelling the 38-year-old from No.75 to 32 in the world and getting him into the US Open next week for being among the top 60.
Taiwan's Kevin Yu (66) birdied the last 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 joined American duo 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 (65) tied for fourth. He made an incredible par on the 17th.
But needing birdie on the par-5 18th to catch Burns, the clubhouse leader at the time, Young flushed a 3-wood into the breeze and into the trees. It took two to get on the green and he made bogey to finish two shots behind.
"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," Young said.