Australian Cameron Smith stormed the lanes of the Old Course at Royal & Old St. Andrews to win the 150e edition of the British Open and his first major tournament with a brilliant final round, leaving Rory McIlroy in his wake.
As the table was set for McIlroy to end an eight-year major tournament drought – the Northern Irishman started the day leading at -16, tied with Norway’s Viktor Hovland, four strokes ahead of Smith and American Cameron Young — it was Smith who stole the show, giving a final card of 64 (-8) to conclude with a cumulative score of 268, 20 under par.
He capped the entire field, including six birdies on his last nine holes, including five consecutive to launch his back nine.
His score of 64 is the lowest achieved in the last lap by the winner in the 30 editions of the Open contested in St. Andrews.
When McIlroy missed his second shot at 18ea blow of ten yards that he absolutely had to stall to cause the holding of the overtime, Smith came out of the scoring pavilion to embrace his younger brother.
McIlroy played a final round of 70, to finish third at -18. Young turned in a 65, notably hitting an eagle on 18e to squeeze between Smith and McIlroy, at -19.
Smith, 88e different British Open winner, saved par over 10 feet on that same 17ebefore finding himself on the front of the green with his tee shot at 18e. From a distance of 80 feet, his putt was almost perfect, leaving him only one formality to complete to put his name on the Claret Jug.
Even with the trophy in his hands, he still found it hard to believe.
“All of these names on this trophy are all players at the top of their game who have won this tournament,” he said. It’s pretty cool to find yours there. I don’t realize it yet. I think it will take a few weeks. It’s completely surreal. »
McIlroy didn’t play a bad game with two birdies and 16 pars, but he didn’t land the shots that would have brought home the trophy.
He was unable to wedge an early putt and was unable to hit the ball close enough to the cup with his tee shot at 18e. His last good chance was a fifteen-foot birdie attempt at 17e. He just missed on the left.
“My putter completely cooled,” McIlroy said. When the two Camerons, especially Smith, fired their hot second nines, I had to dig deep to get birdies and just couldn’t do it. I got beaten by the best player this week. Playing 64 to bring the British Open back to St. Andrews is quite an accomplishment. I take my hat off to him. »
Hovland, who was trying to become the first Norwegian to win a major, scored 74 to finish tied for fourth at -14, with England’s Tommy Fleetwood (67).
Among the Canadians, Corey Conners shot 67 to finish at -8. Mackenzie Hughes did not take part in the two rounds of the weekend.
It’s Smith’s third win this season, his first since the Players Championship. He thus climbed to second place in the world, behind the winner of the Masters Tournament, Scottie Scheffler.
He is the first Australian to win the British Open since Greg Norman at Royal St. George’s in 1993. Norman has been asked to sit out this year because of his Saudi-funded LIV series.
No one thought of it at the end of the day, which belongs to Smith and his smoking putter.
Cell rewarded
Filippo Celli posted a one-under-par 71 in the final round to secure the silver medal as the top amateur golfer.
The 21-year-old Italian concluded his work week having played 283 strokes, 5 less than par and 6 strokes ahead of Aaron Jarvis.
Celli started the day at -4, but bogeyed on two of the first three holes. However, he got back on track with an eagle on 14e, a par-5. After a bogey at 17ehe almost stalled his putt for an eagle at 18ebefore slotting the ball into the cup for a birdie.
With the Associated Press