In miraculous scenes on golf’s most hallowed grounds, Cameron Smith has become Australia’s newest major winner after hunting down Rory McIlroy to win The Open Championship.
Having started the final round at St Andrews a whopping four shots off overnight leaders McIlroy and Viktor Hovland, Smith produced one of the greatest final rounds in majors history to hoist the Claret Jug.
The 28-year-old fired a bogey-free, eight-under — which included five-consecutive birdies at the turn, and another on 18 — that ultimately sealed the A$3.7 million win.
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McIlroy also went bogey-free, but his putter fizzled as only two birdie putts dropped in a final round that saw him finish third at 18-under.
Second place belonged to Cameron Young, whose seven-under on Monday (AEST) included an eagle at the 18th that saw him draw level with Smith for a matter of moments.
That added pressure to Smith’s two-foot tap-in for birdie, but the Queenslander didn’t falter as he put the finishing touch on a 20-under tournament.
Smith’s final round is the lowest ever shot by a winner of The Open, while his 20-under tournament score goes one better than Tiger Woods’ St Andrews record, set in 2000.
According to ESPN, Smith is the only player in the last 20 years to birdie the first five holes of the back nine in the final round of a major
He joins not only Woods, but also legends Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, and five-time Australian champion Peter Thomson, as winners of The Open at St Andrews.
Smith had been on the verge of dropping a stroke on the notoriously difficult 17th when he left his second shot short and behind the pot bunker.
He played safe by putting his third shot to the middle of the green before sinking a clutch, 10-foot par-putt that maintained his one-shot lead heading to the final hole.
The 28-year-old would make no mistake with a birdie at the 18th, forcing crowd-favourite McIlroy to make an eagle. McIlroy couldn’t drive the green, leaving him with a 25-metre shot for eagle to force a playoff which he couldn’t produce.
“I’m going to fall apart here, I know,” an emotional Smith said after being presented the Claret Jug.
“This one’s for Oz.”
Smith is the first Australian to win a men’s major since Jason Day in 2015 (PGA Championship), and just the third this century after Adam Scott (Masters, 2013) and Geoff Ogilvy (US Open, 2006).
No Australian had lifted the Claret Jug since Greg Norman in 1993.
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Asked if he could put his win into words, Smith said: “Absolutely not. It’s just unreal.
“This place is so cool, to have the 150th Open here and to walk away with the win is something that I think I’ve dreamt of. I didn’t know I would get this far and it’s just awesome.”
He added: “I’m lost. It’s unreal to look at these names on this trophy and then to add mine, it’s unreal. Really, I’m lost for words.”
Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said that McIlroy had “fallen victim to one of the greatest come-from-behind rounds ever seen in major history.”
He added: “It was a relentless display of clutch putting from Cam Smith. It got to a point where even from 24-feet you were surprised if he missed it.”
McIlroy said he was simply “beaten by the better player this week”.
“To shoot 64 to win an Open Championship at St Andrews is one hell of a showing, so hats off to Cam, he’s had an unbelievable week,” McIlroy said.
Elsewhere, Australia’s Lucas Herbert, Anthony Quayle and Adam Scott all finished the major in a tie for 15th at 10-under par. Herbert and Quayle enjoyed five-under final rounds while Scott had four birdies in 10 holes, but cooled with two bogeys at 12 and 17 to finish the day at one-under.
Fellow Australian Min Woo Lee capped off a strong performance with a four-under round that moved him to nine-under for the tournament.
Tommy Fleetwood and Hovland rounded out the top five at 14-under.
Superb Smith rockets into round 2 lead | 02:33
