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Cameron Smith captured his first major title in fitting fashion on Sunday at The 150th Open, matching three-time Open champion Tiger Woods 72-scoring record at St. Andrews and joining Jack Nicklaus, a three-time Open winner, as the only players to win The Players and the claret jug in the same year.
The 28-year-old Australian posted a bogey-free, 8-under 64 – his second of the week – to finish at 20-under 268, besting PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young by a stroke (65 on Sunday). But perhaps the most notable podium finish belonged to world No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who came into the week chasing his fifth major title and first since the 2014 PGA Championship, and he held a share of the 54-hole lead by four strokes over Smith. But a 2-under 70 on Sunday left him two strokes back in solo third.
“To win an Open Championship in itself is probably going to be a golfer’s highlight in their career,” Smith said. “To do it around St. Andrews I think is just unbelievable.”
Smith, who also won in January at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, came into the week listed at +2200 via PointsBet Sportsbook, with McIlroy as the pre-tournament betting favorite at +1000. And he started the final round chasing the Northern Irishman, who held a share of the 54-hole lead with Norway’s Viktor Hovland (+4500) at 16 under.
The Aussie turned on the gas after the turn, making five straight birdies on Nos. 10-14, and he walked to the 15th tee with a one-stroke lead. He held on through three pars – including a nervy two-putt around the edge of the notorious Road Hole bunker at No. 17 – and finished with a two-putt birdie at 18 to become the first winner in 30 times the championship has been contested at St. Andrews to finish with a 64. Smith’s 20-under total also matched the lowest score to par in any major.
“All the names on there, every player that’s been at the top of their game has won this championship,” Smith added. “It’s pretty cool to be on there. It really hasn’t sunk in yet. I don’t think it will for a few weeks. Yeah, it’s just unreal.”
“I got beaten by the better player this week,” said McIlroy, who recorded his fourth consecutive top-10 in this season’s majors (second at Masters; eighth at PGA; T-5 at U.S. Open). “To go out and shoot 64 to win the Open Championship at St. Andrews is a hell of a showing. Hats off to Cam.”
McIlroy, who has two wins on the season (CJ Cup @ Summit, RBC Canadian Open), was chasing his fifth major championship victory and his first since the 2014 PGA Championship. He’s accumulated 17 top-10s in majors since his 2014 PGA win, the most of any player in that span.
Smith, whose T-20 in 2019 had been his best finish in four prior Open starts, is the first Australian to win at St. Andrews since Kel Nagle in 1960, where he beat none other than Arnold Palmer by a stroke. Additionally, he’s the first Australian to win the Open since Greg Norman in 1993 at Royal St. George’s.
Rounding out the leaderboard at T-4 (14 under) were Tommy Fleetwood (+3500) and Hovland (74 Sunday), with Brian Harman and Dustin Johnson (+3300) at T-6 (13 under), and Bryson DeChambeau (+8000), Patrick Cantlay (+2800) and Jordan Spieth (+1600) at T-8 (12 under).
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Rookie Young keeps momentum rolling with fourth runner-up result
PGA Tour rookie and first-round leader Cameron Young (+12500) recorded his fourth runner-up result on the season, and his solo second marked the best result by a player in his Open debut at St. Andrews since Tony Lema won in 1964.
Young opened with a bogey-free 64 and closed with a 7-under 65, punctuated by an eagle at the 72nd hole to finish one shot behind Smith in his bid to become the 11th player to win The Open in a debut appearance (most recent: Collin Morikawa in 2021) and the first Tour rookie to win a major since Keegan Bradley at the 2011 PGA Championship.
“It probably hurts a little worse to come up one shot short,” said Young, whose best finish in five previous major championship appearances was a T-3 at the 2022 PGA. “If you lose by eight you don’t really care. But, yeah, I played well today. I would have signed up for 65 this morning. And to watch Cameron shoot what he did, it was pretty amazing.”
It marked the sixth podium this season (T-2 at Sanderson Farms Championship, Genesis Invitational, Wells Fargo Championship; T-3 at RBC Heritage, PGA Championship) for Young, who came in off two straight missed cuts (U.S. Open, Genesis Scottish Open).
Scheffler just misses out on top 20, Celli earns low-am honors
World No. 1 and FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler (+1600) finished just outside the top 20, joining a group of seven golfers to finish T-21 at 9-under 279 including recent U.S. Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick (+1800), Billy Horschel (+10000) and former Open champ Shane Lowry (+2200). World No. 3 Jon Rahm (+1600) was T-34 at 7 under, while world No. 7 and reigning PGA Champion Justin Thomas (+2000) finished T-53.
Last week’s Genesis Scottish Open champion Xander Schauffele (+1400) finished T-15 at 10 under in his bid to become the first player since McIlroy in 2014 to follow a win on the PGA Tour with a major championship victory the following week.
Four of six amateurs in the field made the cut: Barclay Brown, Filippo Celli, Sam Bairstow and Aaron Jarvis. Celli, a 21-year-old from Italy who recently finished his sophomore year TCU, finished T-47 at 5-under 283 to win the Silver Medal, given annually to the top amateur performer who completes 72 holes at The Open.
Tiger leaves lasting impression, among notables to miss the cut
Three-time Open champion Tiger Woods (+8000) may not have made the cut, but he kept everyone captivated through three days of pre-tournament activities and two rounds at St. Andrews, where he shot 78-75 to miss the cut by nine strokes. Woods was playing in his third event of the season and third overall since returning from a devastating car crash in February 2021.
“I’m a little ticked that I’m not playing on the weekend,” said Woods, who got choked up on 18 Friday after he walked alone across the Swilcan Bridge while fans gave him a lengthy ovation. “I certainly did not play good enough to be around. I wish I would have played better. I wish I had a little bit better break at the first hole yesterday and maybe started off a little better. But that’s just kind of how it all went from there. Just never really kind of materialized.”
Woods, who was making his 90th major championship start, also acknowledged that the week might be his last at St. Andrews as a competitor, although a date for the next Open at the Old Course hasn’t been officially announced.
“I don’t know if I will be physically able to play back here again when it comes back around,’’ said Woods, who made the cut at the 2022 Masters and PGA Championship. “I’ll be able to play future British Opens, yes, but eight years’ time, I doubt if I’ll be competitive at this level.”
Woods’ MC was just his fourth in 22 starts at The Open, and his 153 total was his highest 36-hole score at The Open and his third-highest score in a major championship. Overall, it marked his 14th missed cut in 90 major championship starts and 30th missed cut in 371 starts on Tour.
Eighty-three players made the 36-hole cut, which fell at even par, but other notable players who packed up early were defending champion Collin Morikawa (+2800), who shot 72-73 and missed by a shot, as well as all four past champions at St. Andrews: Zach Johnson (72-75), Louis Oosthuizen (71-74; +4000), Woods and John Daly (73-74).
Former Open champion Henrik Stenson (75-70) also missed by a shot, while Phil Mickelson shot 72-77 to miss his fourth straight cut on Tour. Brooks Koepka (+4000) also went home early after shooting 73-75.
Up next: 3M Open
Just three events remain in the Tour’s regular season, and FedExCup points are at a premium as competition continues this week at the 3M Open. Three-time Tour winner Cameron Champ returns to defend his title at TPC Twin Cities, located just 15 miles north of Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Recent John Deere Classic winner J.T. Poston will look to get back on track after missing the cut at The Open, while former tennis pro Mardy Fish becomes the latest athlete to accept an exemption into a Tour event. Fish, who hails from nearly Edina, Minn., won 20 times and reached No. 7 in the world on the pro tennis circuit, winning silver at the 2004 Olympics. He retired from tennis in 2015 and has since turned his efforts to golf, winning the LPGA’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions three times and the American Century Championship in 2020, where he shot 63 to break Lee Trevino’s course record.
Last year at TPC Twin Cities, a then-26-year-old Champ closed with a bogey-free, 5-under 66 to win by two strokes over Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Jhonattan Vegas for his third career Tour title. Champ gutted out the win despite suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion during the final round. He’ll arrive for his title defense off a string of four straight missed cuts dating back to the Memorial in June. On the season, Champ has made just six cuts in 16 start with two top 10s (T-10 at Masters, T-6 at Mexico Open.)
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