Ryggs Johnston has long been one of the premier golfers in Montana, and the 25-year-old from Libby took a giant leap this past year competing among the giants of the game.
In July, Johnston became the first men's golfer from Montana to play in the British Open when he stepped on the links at Royal Portrush in County Antrim on the coast of Northern Ireland. That was a big accomplishment by itself. But he went even further by making the cut and playing all four rounds of the 153rd Open Championship.
Johnston shot 4-over-par 288 for the tournament and was placed among the top 20 after a sizzling second round. For his unique effort, Johnston is the MTN Sports male athlete of the year for 2025.
"It was pretty cool to make the cut at my first major. I don't think that happens too often. Usually it takes guys one or two to kind of get used to it," Johnston told MTN Sports after the tournament. "It was a really good experience, just getting to a major and being able to make the cut and play the weekend."
Johnston earned an automatic qualification for The Open by winning the ISPS Handa Australian Open in Melbourne in December 2024. He earned his DP World Tour card the month prior. Formerly an All-American golfer at Arizona State, Johnston came into The Open with the goal of making the cut and he did so by playing one of the weekend's best rounds.
In Round 2 on Friday, Johnston shot a 5-under 66 with seven birdies to make the cut in a tie for 17th place at 2-under par. He birdied holes 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 and 17, and also had seven pars with just two bogeys. Johnston's seven birdies were just off the the eight made by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who went on to win the Claret Jug, his fourth major title and his second of 2025.
"It was just one of those days where the body felt like it was moving good," Johnston, who won four individual state titles at Libby High School, said of his Friday 66. "The swing just felt smooth and confident, and it seemed like I had a lot of good yardages to where I was hitting a lot of shots with a lot of confidence and the ball was going where I wanted it to."
Johnston slipped a bit with a 3-over 74 in Round 3 on Saturday. He closed the fourth round with a four-day total of 288 at 4-over par (74-66-74-74) and in a tie for 63rd.
In all, Johnston appeared in 32 tournaments in the 2025 calendar year and placed in the top 50 in five of them. One of his best was a 26th-place finish at the BMW International Open in Germany in July a couple weeks prior to his appearance at the British Open. He also appeared at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Most recently, Johnston played in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open last week.
Johnston will continue to build on his breakthrough during the 2026 season.
