New Zealand’s Ryan Fox produced the round of the day at Royal Birkdale, shooting an eight-under-par 62 in the third round of The Open 2026 to equal a major championship scoring record, according to the BBC and the Guardian.

Fox told Sky that his approach was built around aggression. “The game plan was to be aggressive … I hit driver a lot … your strategy changes with the wind around here,” he said. “I had a couple of interesting shots on the back nine and kinda got away with them … pretty happy with 62 in the end, that’s for sure.” He added that he was “pretty happy to make par [on 18] from that fairway trap.”

Fox played alongside Xander Schauffele, who according to the Guardian shot a 66. “Had a lot of fun with [Xander Schauffele] … he played really well too and we kind of fed off each other,” Fox said. The Guardian reported Schauffele carded birdies at 5, 7, 8, 10, 14 and 17, with bogeys at 11 and 15, to reach -4 overall, though it noted he was probably too far back depending on how the leaders fared and what the wind did on Sunday.

Fox, who says he has never put four rounds together at the Open, expressed cautious optimism. “I haven’t really put four rounds together [at the Open] … hopefully this is a sign … I’m in a pretty good place to give myself a chance so we’ll see what happens,” he said. He told the BBC it would be “cool” to be in the mix on Sunday.

It was a contrasting day for Rory McIlroy, who according to the Guardian could not keep any momentum going. He followed a chip-in eagle on the 9th with a bogey at 11, dropping back to -1 as a second Claret Jug remained out of reach. The Guardian’s later coverage also reported that McIlroy lashed out at Bryson DeChambeau over a penalty row.

Jon Rahm endured a difficult start, carving his opening drive over the bushes to the right and out of bounds before making a double-bogey six. The Guardian noted his underwhelming Open record, with high finishes in 2019 and 2023 but never really looking likely to win.