{"id":40748,"date":"2026-07-22T02:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T02:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/40748\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T02:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T02:04:12","slug":"british-open-2026-18-fun-behind-the-scenes-moments-from-sunday-at-royal-birkdale-golf-news-and-tour-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/40748\/","title":{"rendered":"British Open 2026: 18 fun behind-the-scenes moments from Sunday at Royal Birkdale | Golf News and Tour Information"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Open Championship has a lot of traditions. One that has become a favorite of mine is \u201cInside The Open\u201d, a behind-the-scenes video series that runs each day of tournament week. Posted to the R&A\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>, the series has no host or commentary, letting the visuals and access do the talking. It takes you behind the scenes, showing a range of interesting and emotional moments that don\u2019t even make it to the television broadcast.<\/p>\n

I watch it anxiously each evening of Open week. Here\u2019s the 18 best moments from the final episode on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

1. Rory\u2019s Trackman<\/p>\n

Not sure how often Rory McIlroy misplaces his Trackman but there\u2019s no chance of confusing devices with anyone else in the field at The Open. The Masters champion has a nametag on it, from Augusta National of course, with his name \u201cRors\u201d on it.<\/p>\n

2. Rahm chipping over Kazuma Kobori<\/p>\n

If you ever go to a professional event and spend time at the short-game area, you\u2019ll no doubt be amazed at the control the best player\u2019s in the world have with a wedge in their hands. That explains this moment. Jon Rahm warming up for his final round with his airpods in chipping balls over Kazuma Kobori in the bunker. While the Spaniard is locked in, Kobori seems less sure this is a good idea.<\/p>\n

Spoiler: Rahm does hit the shot and, of course, flies it over the Kiwi and onto the green.<\/p>\n

3. Harry Maguire in the players\u2019 clubhouse<\/p>\n

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire was on-site during Sunday\u2019s final round. In addition to making a couple of TV appearances and watching Tommy Fleetwood, the 33-year-old got a tour of the players\u2019 clubhouse at Royal Birkdale. In this moment, he takes note of the fact the players have their own barber shop within the locker room.<\/p>\n

4. Tommy and his coach<\/p>\n

I think the best moments in \u201cInside The Open\u201d are the intimate ones. This is a great example. Just before he walks out in front of the crowd to begin preparing for the final round of The Open, in his hometown, Fleetwood walks arm-in-arm with his short game coach, Graham Walker.<\/p>\n

5. The final moments before the first tee<\/p>\n

It was undoubtedly a memorable and emotional week for Fleetwood. The Englishman grew up steps from Royal Birkdale and was a clear crowd favourite all week. Dealing with that level of support, pressure and expectation isn\u2019t easy. Fleetwood spoke to the media about it several times. In Sunday\u2019s \u201cInside The Open\u201d, a camera picked up this moment as he sat with his thoughts moments before walking through the tunnel to the first tee.<\/p>\n

6. Time for a couple more swings<\/p>\n

Seconds before being announced onto the first tee, Fleetwood stood on the bridge from the clubhouse, swinging a club in order to get a couple of last minute swings and feels. His caddie, Iain Finnis, sat looking out to the first tee before the pair got their final round underway.<\/p>\n

7. The Fox<\/p>\n

One of the first times we see eventual winner Ryan Fox in Sunday\u2019s episode is on the first tee. One of the great aspects of the series is the considered and artistic angles they are able to capture. Here, Fox tees off in the final group as his \u201cfox\u201d headcover rests on his bag. Tip of the cap to the cameraman here.<\/p>\n

8. One last look<\/p>\n

I followed Cameron Young throughout his final round. It was very nearly one of the best rounds in Open history. On a challenging day, he was seven under par for his round standing on the 18th tee tied for the lead. He would go on to bogey the hole and this was the moment he walked off the green and turned to take one last look.<\/p>\n

Was he thinking what could have been? Was he just taking in the final moment of another close call at a major championship? We\u2019ll never know, but seeing the moment live and then again in the \u201cInside The Open\u201d video really stuck with me.<\/p>\n

9. The waiting game<\/p>\n

After signing his card and talking to media, Young returned to the players\u2019 clubhouse and began the waiting game to see if his score would be good enough for a playoff. Here, cameras picked him up watching the coverage in the company of Mike Thomas, Justin\u2019s father. While Thomas senior enjoyed a pint, Young was hydrating with water only as he waited nearly two hours for the final groups to finish.<\/p>\n

10. Young hits on an empty range<\/p>\n

The driving range at The Open is one of the best spots to see players hit and interact. Thousands of fans lined this range throughout the week to see players prepare. However, when Young returned late on Sunday night, preparing in case there was a playoffp, there wasn\u2019t a single fan there. Again, a great moment captured by the R&A\u2019s video team.<\/p>\n

11. The winning moment<\/p>\n

Fox\u2019s winning birdie will go down as one of the best final holes in major history. From 12 feet, he rolled in just the fifth birdie of the day on the challenging closing hole, winning The Open by one shot. While the broadcast cameras picked up several angles of the putt, I loved this one captured over the shoulders of the photographers and with thousands of fans in the background joining in Fox\u2019s celebration.<\/p>\n

12. \u201cWhat have you done?\u201d<\/p>\n

An Open Championship is a memorable moment for any player. Also, for their caddie. Dean Smith has been on Fox\u2019s bag for five years and shared in many highs and lows with the 39-year-old. After leaving the scoring area on Sunday, Fox met with family and his caddie once again. Smith patting Fox on the back side and saying to him \u201cwhat have you done?\u201d A great moment, to which Fox replied \u201cI don\u2019t know Deano.\u201d<\/p>\n

13. Two bottles of wine<\/p>\n

When a player wins a major, there\u2019s a lot they have to do in the aftermath: trophy presentations, scoring protocol, television interviews, questions from media, sponsor meet and greets. At this moment, R&A staff greet Fox before going through the extensive process of what comes from winning an Open.<\/p>\n

Fox explains to one official that the moment hasn\u2019t sunk in yet. The official puts his hand on Fox\u2019s shoulder and says \u201cI think it might sink in after a couple of glasses of red.\u201d Fox puts his head in his hand and jokes \u201ca couple of bottles maybe!\u201d Then adding \u201ccan\u2019t think of a better thing to drink it out of either,\u201d referring of course to the claret jug.<\/p>\n

14. Can I touch it?<\/p>\n

After getting the claret jug in his hands for the first time, Fox walked off the 18th green and was met by his team. His caddie locked eyes on the trophy and asks Fox \u201cCan I touch it?\u201d Foxobliges, and the pair share in a moment of seeing their week etched on the game\u2019s most coveted silverware.<\/p>\n

15. Nearly forgetting the media team<\/p>\n

As Fox is led through the procession of obligations after his winning birdie, there are a lot of people waiting to congratulate him. In this moment, Fox nearly walked right past two of the R&A\u2019s media team that worked with Fox throughout the week, who were waiting by the media center. Foxeventually notices them and gave each a hug.<\/p>\n

16. The first drink<\/p>\n

Soon after leaving the 18th green ceremony, Fox is escorted to the player\u2019s clubhouse by R&A CEO Mark Darbon. He\u2019s led upstairs to the restaurant area where he is greeted by staff, fellow players, caddies, managers and a waiting standing with a tray of two drinks: a beer for his caddie and a well-earned glass of red wine for the Champion Golfer of the Year.<\/p>\n

17. Min Woo Lee<\/p>\n

One of the players waiting for Fox was his friend, Min Woo Lee. Upon seeing that Fox is holding both a glass of red wine and the claret jug, the Australian says \u201cyou\u2019ve got to drink it out of it,\u201d pointing at the trophy. Fox would later admit to Golf Channel that he did fill it up here but had to pour out the red wine before taking more official photos with the claret jug.<\/p>\n

18. The pin flag<\/p>\n

Another admirable aspect of The Open Championship is how much they value and look after caddies. They have their own area of the players\u2019 clubhouse, physios, rehab and relaxation areas. In this moment, R&A captain Dennis Watson presents Smith with the actual pin flag from the 18th hole.<\/p>\n

You can watch the full episode of \u201cInside The Open\u201d here<\/a> at the R&A\u2019s YouTube page. There are seven episodes in total from Royal Birkdale. I thoroughly recommend watching them all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Open Championship has a lot of traditions. One that has become a favorite of mine is \u201cInside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[12313,44,16336,54,2274,2277,2143,82,1295],"class_list":["post-40748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-open-championship","tag-claret-jug","tag-golf","tag-inside-sunday-at-british-open-18-moments-from-behind-the-scenes","tag-news","tag-openchampionship2026","tag-ra","tag-ryan-fox","tag-story","tag-the-open-championship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}