Australian Cameron Smith faces questions about his future after claiming his first major title in a brilliant way at the 150th Open Championship in St Andrews.
Smith reversed a four-shot deficit courtesy of his second 64 in the space of three days, the 28-year-old from Brisbane finished 20 below par to beat the previous record in the 19-under Old Course set by Tiger Woods in 2000.
An eighth birdie of the day on the 18th gave Smith a one-off victory over teammate Cameron Young, who got the last hole, with 54-hole co-leader Rory McIlroy one shot later. of the late 70s.
What does the future hold for Cameron Smith? (David Davies / PA)
“I think winning an Open Championship in itself will probably be the highlight of a golfer in his career. Doing it for St Andrews I think is amazing,” said Smith, who declined the opportunity to deny the reports. linking him to the LIV Golf series, backed by Saudi Arabia, at its winner’s press conference.
“It’s unreal to look at these names in this trophy and then add mine, I miss the words. I will definitely find out how many beers fit in this thing (the Claret jug), that’s for sure ”.
Asked about the possibility of joining the LIV Golf series, which is led by his Australian compatriot and two-time Open champion Greg Norman, Smith said: “I just won the British Open and you’re wondering about that. I don’t think it’s very good. “
Pressed to see if he was interested in joining, Smith added, “I don’t know, mate. My team around me cares about all these things. I’m here to win golf tournaments.”
Image of the day
Smith’s one-shot victory was due both to his remarkable save from the pair on the 17th and to his putting display. The Australian’s approach to the Road Hole, the most difficult of the last three days, ended behind the dreaded bunker. He had no way to fetch the flag, so he stood around the trap bowl about eight feet away and made a hole for a four. A shot dropped there would have opened the door for pursuer Rory McIlroy.
The story goes on
Round of the day
Cameron Smith – 64 years old
Smith, who started four shots back, didn’t drop any shots throughout the day. After just two birdies in the top nine, he came back to life after the spin with a remarkable streak of five consecutive wins, the longest for a player in the final round of the Open in 21 years, which turned the tide. in his favor. A bird in the end realistically took advantage of McIlroy’s chances of forcing a play-off from the hands of the Northern Irishman.
The tweet of the day
Statistics of the day
Since the records began, McIlroy is the only player to hold the 54-hole lead in a major, has hit all the regulation greens in the final round and has not won.
The hardest hole
For the third day in a row, the 17th hole played the hardest in St Andrews (Richard Sellers / PA)
The 17th par-four of 495 yards played as the hardest hole on the third day in a row, yielding four birdies, with 27 bogeys and 13 double bogeys or worse, resulting in an average of 4.37.
The easiest hole
The fifth 570-yard manageable par-five. There were six eagles, 45 birds and only seven bogeys, averaging 3.24.