What Was In Ryan Fox's Bag When He Won The Open Championship

Ryan Fox capped off the most improbable of weeks at Royal Birkdale, holing a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to pip Cameron Young by a single shot and claim the 2026 Open Championship. At 39, the Kiwi becomes just the third New Zealander in history to win a men's major, joining Sir Bob Charles and Michael Campbell in the record books and he did it carrying a bag that's almost entirely Srixon and Cleveland from driver to wedge.

Fox has been one of the Srixon stable's quiet success stories, and Royal Birkdale was the perfect stage for it: a proper old-school links, where flighting the ball and controlling spin matters more than raw power. Here's exactly what was in his bag and, more usefully, which of it is worth putting in yours.

The Bag At A Glance

Driver: Srixon ZXi RKT LS+

Fox only put this driver in play a few weeks before The Open, at the Travelers Championship, and trusted it straight into a major, a sign of how much confidence Srixon's tour team has in it. The "RKT" is the newest evolution of the ZXi LS, built for low spin and a flatter, more piercing ball flight, which is exactly what Fox needed for battling wind off the Irish Sea all week.

Should you play it? Probably not, and that's not a knock on the club, it's a fitting reality. LS drivers are built for players who already generate a lot of clubhead speed and spin naturally; taking spin away only helps if you had too much to begin with. Most club golfers are the opposite: they're under-spinning or mis-hitting enough that they need help from more spin, not a low-spinning ball that falls out the sky. For the vast majority of golfers, the standard Srixon ZXi or, better yet, the Srixon ZXi MAX — Srixon's most forgiving driver to date — will find more fairways and add more distance on mis-hits than the LS ever will.

👉 Shop Srixon Drivers at The Pro Shop

Fairway Wood: Srixon ZXi RKT (15°)

Same story as the driver, this is the tour version of the ZXi RKT fairway wood, tuned for lower spin and a flatter trajectory to avoid the effects of the wind. It's a great complement to the low-spin driver for a player who already flights the ball well.

Should you play it? This one's more forgiving to recommend, because Srixon's standard ZXi fairway wood range is genuinely playable across a wide range of handicaps, it's really only the LS/RKT versions at the top of the range that are built with tour players' spin numbers in mind. If you're a mid-to-high handicapper, look at the standard ZXi or ZXi MAX fairway wood instead; you'll get more forgiveness on off-centre strikes and a higher, easier launch.

👉 Shop Srixon Fairway Woods at The Pro Shop

Irons: A Blended Set (ZXi5+, ZXi5, ZXi7)

This is the most interesting part of Fox's bag, and the part with the clearest lesson for club golfers. He doesn't play one iron model top to bottom, he blends three models:

• ZXi5+ 3-iron (20°) — effectively a driving iron, added specifically for The Open's firm, fast, wind-affected conditions
• ZXi5 4–5-irons — Srixon's more forgiving, higher-launching players' distance iron
• ZXi7 6-PW — a more compact, tour-style iron for precision into the greens

This is a smart, deliberate build: forgiveness where he needs it (long irons, the hardest to hit well), workability where accuracy matters most (scoring irons).

Should you play it? Here's where our advice differs from Fox's setup. That 3-iron is the one club in the bag we'd steer the average golfer away from. Driving irons and strong long irons demand a very precise, descending strike to get the ball airborne, even very good players struggle to consistently launch a 3-iron high enough to hold a green. Fox can do it because he's an elite ball-striker playing on tight, firm links turf where a lower flight is actually an advantage. Most South African courses, and most golfers' swings, don't reward that trade-off.

For that gap in the bag, we'd point the average golfer toward a Srixon ZXi Hybrid instead of a driving iron or strong 3-iron. It's got a noticeably larger head, a lower and deeper centre of gravity, and an adjustable hosel, all of which make it dramatically easier to launch high and land soft, even on a mis-hit. You'll carry it further and more consistently than a long iron, full stop.

👉 Shop Srixon Irons at The Pro Shop | Shop Srixon Hybrids at The Pro Shop

Wedges: Cleveland RTZ Tour Rack (50°, 56°, 60°)

Cleveland sits under the same ownership group as Srixon, and their wedges are used across the tour, so it's no surprise to see them rounding out Fox's set. The "Tour Rack" set-up simply means the grinds and bounce options are pulled from the tour van rather than off-the-shelf.

Should you play it? Yes, with one caveat. Wedges are one of the few categories where tour and amateur needs can genuinely overlap; good spin and control help everyone. Where it may differ is bounce and grind: tour players often play lower-bounce, more aggressive grinds suited to tight lies and precise strikes. Most club golfers, especially higher handicappers who take a bigger divot, are better served by the standard-bounce Cleveland RTZ options rather than a tour grind. A proper wedge fitting is worth the time it takes.

👉 Shop Cleveland & Srixon Wedges at The Pro Shop

Putter: Ping Anser 2

The one non-Srixon club in the bag, and a rare sight in 2026. Fox is one of only a handful of players on tour still gaming a blade-style putter, having led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting during Saturday's round.

Should you play it? Blade putters like the Anser reward players with a very consistent, repeatable stroke, but they're less forgiving on strikes that miss the sweet spot than a modern mallet. If your stroke is a work in progress, a mallet-style putter with more perimeter weighting will typically hold its line better on a mis-hit. Putters are also the most personal, feel-based purchase in the bag, so this is one area where we'd always recommend trying a few in-store over buying off a pro's bag list.

Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV

Fox's ball of choice, the Z-Star XV, is Srixon's firmer, faster tour-level urethane ball, built for players who want a bit less spin off the driver but full short-game spin and control around the greens, thanks to Srixon's Spin Skin coating.

Should you play it? This is genuinely one of the more accessible pieces of gear in the bag, a good ball fitting matters more than raw swing speed. That said, if you find the Z-Star XV flies a touch low and doesn't hold greens the way you'd like, the standard Srixon Z-Star (softer and higher-launching) or Srixon Soft Feel are excellent, more forgiving alternatives that still deliver serious short-game performance without needing tour-level speed to get the most out of them.

👉 Shop Srixon Z-Star & Z-Star XV Golf Balls at The Pro Shop | Shop Srixon Soft Feel

The Bottom Line

Ryan Fox's bag is a masterclass in tour-level fitting, low-spin, precision equipment built around a professional's fast, repeatable swing and a week of firm, windy links golf. Most of it isn't a match for the average golfer's game or the average South African golf course, and that's fine; that's exactly what it's built for.

What is worth borrowing is the thinking behind it: get fitted, don't be afraid to blend club types where it helps (like Fox's iron set), and choose forgiveness over a tour player's spin numbers unless you can actually repeat the strike that earns them. If you want to find out which Srixon setup actually matches your swing rather than a major champion's, book a fitting at The Pro Shop and we'll help you build the bag that's right for you.

👉 Shop the full Srixon range at The Pro Shop