Cameron Smith

Smith birdied five consecutive holes in the final round at St. Andrews, shooting an 8-under 64 and overtaking Rory McIlroy for his first major title.

But he didn’t make a birdie over his last eight holes and shot 70 to finish in third at 18 under. Smith calmly stepped into his putt and knocked it in to win his first major championship. Young, who likely will be the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year and was ranked in the 500s early last summer, closed with a 65 to finish at 19 under. But the man who prefers a rod and reel in his hands instead of a 9-iron unleashed the most powerful weapon of the day – his putter. The five consecutive birdies reeled in McIlroy and gave Smith the lead. But playing partner Cameron Young had driven the green and then knocked in a 15-footer for eagle to tie Smith if only for a moment.

The Australian shot 8-under 64 to overturn a four-shot deficit in the final round. It's his first major title.

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Smith matched the lowest score to par in major championship history (-20) thanks to a stellar 64 in Sunday's final round.

Possessing the 54-hole lead in a major championship for the first time in eight years, McIlroy's lack of aggression and enhanced level of maturity may have actually served as the thorn in his side. Simply too messy on and around the greens, the two-time major winner may have let one of the best opportunities to win an Open slip through his grasp. T4. Viktor Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood (-14): In his first taste of major championship contention, Hovland struggled early and often as he signed for a 2-over 74. With so much uncertainty around the status of his major eligibility moving forward, Johnson may only have through 2025 to add to his total. It marks his first top-10 finish in a major championship and could serve as a springboard into 2023. He took down Jon Rahm at the Tournament of Champions, made 10 birdies in the final round of the Players Championship to secure the biggest payday in golf and stared down all of St. Andrews to raise the Claret Jug. He has now finished on the podium at Riviera, Southern Hills and St. Andrews. The first win of his PGA Tour career is surely around the corner. Young three-putted No. 1, had to take an unplayable on the short par-4 ninth and left birdie opportunities short on Nos. 15 and 17 and finished in second in spite of these blunders. Five straight birdies marked a personal best in his major championship career, and he once again proved when the lights are the brightest, his game shines. Taking the wind out of the sails of McIlroy, Smith became the first major champion in modern history to sign for two rounds of 64 or lower. Making amends for the disappointment of his third round, Smith was simply brilliant as he rediscovered the putting magic that first led him to the 36-hole lead. Despite the birdie barrage, it was a par save on the 17th that Smith may look back upon as the defining moment of his championship.

Cameron Smith is one of the best putters in golf, and late on Open Championship Sunday, he got really hot.

That put an end to his streak of birdies, but it was enough to vault him into the lead as he navigated the final stretch. It started with a good drive just short of the 10th green. It was a truly astonishing run of golf, precisely at the moment he needed it most.

Cameron Smith won the British Open for his first major title. He shot a bogey-free eight-under 64 to overturn a four-shot deficit in the final round.

He also won the British Open that year, a PGA Championship in 2012 and the U.S. Open in 2011. He hasn’t won one in the 29 majors since his PGA Championship victory in 2014. “I’ve always said that if I won a tournament or did something good, I would cut it off,” he said. His role in the upstart league is that controversial. His eagle chip bounced past the hole. I’m going to fall apart here, I know,” an emotional Smith said during the trophy presentation.

Cameron Smith came from four shots back to win The Open at St. Andrews for his first major championship title.

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The Australian, who tied for third at the Masters in April, overtook Rory McIlroy with a brilliant final round to capture his first major championship.

But he missed the Open the next year, the most recent one to be contested at St. Andrews, because of an injury, and faced years of disappointments. McIlroy, who was born in Northern Ireland and played for Ireland at the Tokyo Olympics, has won a British Open, raising the claret jug in 2014 at Royal Liverpool. Back then, he seemed indomitable. Smith calmly positioned himself and stroked the ball into the cup to retake the lead at 20 under. I’ve got to string four good rounds together, and hopefully at the end of the week, that’s good enough to win.” With his brilliant putting and calm demeanor, he led the tournament after two rounds but then fell four shots off the lead with a 1-over-par 73 on Saturday, a round that included a double bogey on the par-4 13th when he went for an ill-advised second shot from the edge of a bunker. But Woods, then in his prime, won by eight strokes, turning the final round into a processional. “And this one definitely makes it worth it.” He won the Players Championship in March, his second PGA Tour victory this season. But with his remarkable final-round 64 on Sunday, Smith broke through at an iconic place. Beginning on No. 10, Smith, who began the day at 12 under par, birdied five consecutive holes, while McIlroy’s birdie putts too often fell short, his advantage slimming and then disappearing. Cameron Smith and his putter proved too much. Smith, an Australian with a wispy mustache and mullet, has a retro air, and he often had his way with the historic course, holing birdie after birdie after birdie after birdie after birdie (yes, five in a row) on the back nine despite the pressure that goes with trying to win one’s first major.

Cameron Smith got hot, Rory McIlroy's putter got cold and St. Andrews played easy. A look at what mattered most at the 150th playing of The Open.

Smith, 28, is the sixth straight winner of a major by a player who is in his 20s. The ball was kind of staying on the ground. For much of the week, with so much attention on McIlroy and Woods, you might have barely noticed that PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young was in contention. Morikawa won the 2020 PGA Championship at Harding Park and the 2021 Open at Royal St. George's. "But at the end of the day, he keeps playing the way he's doing, he's going to get one pretty soon, I think at least. It was the ninth time he has finished in the top five at a major since last winning one. McIlroy finished in the top 10 in each of the four majors this season. Smith seemed to arrive at the Players in March, when he won $3.6 million, the richest purse for a winner in PGA Tour history. Playing one group behind Smith, McIlroy made a birdie on the par-4 10th to move to 18-under. From 75 feet away, he putted to 2 feet and made his eighth birdie of the round. Then on the par-5 14th, Smith nearly made an 87-foot eagle putt and tapped in for birdie and a 1-shot lead. PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young eagled the 18th hole to finish solo second, 1 shot behind Smith. McIlroy, who was trying to win his fifth major, finished a disappointing third at 18-under.

All of Scotland was rooting for Rory McIlroy. Then Cameron Smith went on a tear at the home of golf that will live on for generations.

The hotel room he and his family are staying in overlooks the 18th. But it was how he navigated the 13th that led him to believe he was going to win the championship. It has all helped him stay calm and ready for the championship-winning moments that he eased through Sunday. He turned to the putter, which left him a 5-footer to make it five birdies in row. "I felt good all day, and those putts just started going in on that back nine and just got a lot of momentum going." For that to go in, I think, that was it for me." That was his nemesis Saturday. On Sunday, he found the fairway, and then hit a beautiful approach shot from 184 yards to leave him with an 18-foot birdie putt. "I think I was really frustrated [Saturday] with how the round went," he said. On the 11th and 12th he holed out from 16 feet and 11 feet, respectively. "I don't have any family here," he said. But the minute McIlroy's drive came up short of the green, and his attempt to hole out for an eagle to force a playoff slipped past, Smith emerged from the hut as the winner of golf's oldest championship. He regretted how he had attacked the 13th with gusto, instead of playing it carefully -- and walked away with double bogey.

The PGA Tour can't be happy with Cameron Smith's response to a question about LIV Golf.

It should be noted Smith did not respond in the affirmative. Smith would rather talk about his recent conquest than the controversial subject. That would be LIV Golf, the fledgling Saudi-backed circuit that has threatened a schism at the professional level.

Cameron Smith's dad is kicking himself that he didn't make the journey to St. Andrews to see his son win the 150th British Open.

He’s such a nice bloke — always has been — very giving of his time to both the members and the juniors,” McKay said. McKay helped get the club’s Cameron Smith Junior Classic started in 2017 as a qualifying tournament for the Greg Norman Junior Masters event. The club was expecting more than a few beers to be poured in celebration. “It’s been a while for us to get an Open championship.” He went ahead and done it.” He was four back.

Yes, Cameron Smith's dad was kicking himself he didn't make the journey to St. Andrews to see his son win the 150th British Open.

He’s such a nice bloke — always has been — very giving of his time to both the members and the juniors,” McKay said. McKay helped get the club’s Cameron Smith Junior Classic started in 2017 as a qualifying tournament for the Greg Norman Junior Masters event. The club was expecting more than a few beers to be poured in celebration. "It’s been a while for us to get an Open championship.” He was four back. “He’s really grounded. He went ahead and done it." “Then I broke down crying, so I couldn’t talk too much. Des Smith said the pair had spoken after the third round, when his son didn’t have a great day with the putter and had dropped out of the lead, and was confident he was “very mentally strong.” “Going into the last day, I still thought he was a big chance. It all finished in the early hours of Monday morning local time in Australia's east coast city of Brisbane, where the first Australian since 1993 to win the British Open finally got to be the most talked about Cameron Smith in his home state of Queensland. The Open winner in 1993 was Greg Norman and his victory came a month before Smith was born. “I just told him I was proud of him and what a great achievement it was for him,” Des Smith told 7 Network's Sunrise program.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Cameron Smith had just given up his 36-hole lead at The 150th Open. It was time for his caddie, Sam Pinfold, to give a pep talk and ...

He birdied the first four holes of TPC Sawgrass’ back nine en route to that win. He just has the balls and courage to stand up and do it.” “He loves to fight,” Pinfold said. “To win an Open Championship in itself is probably going to be a golfer's highlight in their career. Many suggested he should have called Smith off a risky shot where he attempted to hit his ball while standing in a bunker with the ball above his feet. Another of those moments came Sunday at the infamous Road Hole, which ranks as the TOUR’s toughest each time The Open comes to St. Andrews. Smith’s approach came up short, and the hole’s famous greenside bunker stood between his ball and his target. When he calmly birdied the last to post 20 under, one shot better than playing partner Cameron Young, only a McIlroy eagle could beat him. “Never a doubt,” Smith joked about the match at his pre-tournament press conference afterwards. One State of Origin game fell on The Open’s eve, and Smith insisted on playing his last nine-hole practice round early in the morning so he could stream the match on his phone at St. Andrews. At St. Andrews, he matched that mark for majors and recorded the lowest score ever shot in an Open at St. Andrews, a 20-under 268. Smith is from Queensland – the northeastern state in Australia known for its beautiful beaches, the Great Barrier Reef, and an ethos of never-say-die toughness. Starting Sunday four shots off the lead was enough of a challenge.

He's got a big set of balls on him,” said Cameron Smith's caddie, Sam Pinfold. “He's a real battler and a bulldog."

He’s not afraid to play aggressively, and on Sunday that made all the difference. His creativity around the greens was born during his childhood when he used to love to take a sand wedge and make a golf ball spin to a stop on the makeshift backyard green designed by his father. He’ll hit a bad shot and it just doesn’t seem to bother him, because he knows that he’s going to hit a great next shot. The way he plays he knows he’s got to make birdies and he puts the blinkers on and goes.” “He’s got a big set of balls on him,” said Smith’s caddie, Sam Pinfold. “He’s a real battler and a bulldog. At the 2019 Presidents Cup, Smith hinted at the breakthrough that was to come with a convincing victory over Justin Thomas in his Sunday singles match.

Cameron Smith won the Open Championship on Sunday with an incredible performance to beat out Cameron Young and Rory McIlroy.

Smith is the first golfer to card a 64 in the final round. He would hold off McIlroy and Cameron Young to win the title, his first major win of his career. Smith came all the way back to win the tournament.