Ranking: Cameron Smith (-20), Cameron Young (-19), Rory McIlroy (-18), Victor Hovland (-14), Tommy Fleetwood (-14)
How it happened: Before Sunday’s final round, Tiger Woods sent NBC reporter John Wood a text that put himself in the shoes of the two co-leaders, McIlroy and Hovland, who were four shots off the lead. hunters. Blacksmith. It read: “If I shot 19 under par, which would tie for the lowest score over par in all four majors, I would win. How can I do that; No bunkers, no threes, take care of the drivable par 4s and take care of the par 5s. Maybe sneak in one or two more [birdies]. Here, a score around 68 without doing anything special.”
McIlroy tried to follow that game plan. He did not find shelter, nor did he make a three-pointer. And for good measure, he didn’t miss a green in regulation. Unfortunately for McIlroy, he couldn’t buy a birdie either, managing just two, closing in 2-under 70 and passing the young Aussie, who actually did something special.
Smith reflects on ‘unreal’ 150th Open win
While Hovland fell off the pace early, McIlroy seemed to do enough to win with just two birdies in his first 10 holes. But by that point, Smith had gone on a streak of five birdies – from 5, 16, 11, 18 and 5 feet on Nos. 10-14 – and finally passed McIlroy 30 yards from the green to the tee. in distance to move to 19 down. Smith added a birdie at the end with a closing 8-under 64, but he actually won that championship one hole earlier, on the par-4 Road Hole, where he drove down the fairway only to bogey a left and well short of the green. With the infamous Road Hole Bunker between him and the hole, Smith opted to putt around the trap. He then sank a clutch putt to 10 feet to stay within striking distance of McIlroy, who had to chip in for eagle at the end but holed out to finish third, two behind Smith and a shot behind Young, the who made an eagle No. 18 to win second place.
“I felt like I didn’t do a lot wrong today, but I didn’t do a lot right either,” McIlroy said. “It’s just one of those days where I was playing a really controlled round of golf. I did what I felt like I needed to just take advantage of the easier holes around the turn, 9, 12, 14. If I had made the birdies there from good positions, I probably it would be a different story.”
Added Smith: “I feel like I can breathe. Those last four or five holes aren’t easy around here, especially with the wind blowing from the left. Yeah, I just stuck to what I was doing. Yeah, very proud of how I kind of embraced today and managed to do it.”
Scores across the field from the 150th Open Championship
What it means: Coming into this 150th Open, McIlroy spoke of the importance of winning a jug of claret on the award-winning Old Course at St. Andrews. He called the achievement the “holy grail” of professional golf, so although McIlroy already had an Open title, in 2014 at Royal Liverpool, he wanted it badly. After all, it had been eight years since McIlroy had won a major event of any kind. Instead, it was Smith, with just one top-20 in four previous Open starts, who blew his first major as McIlroy became just the second 54-hole leader/co-leader in the last 30 years of majors to go without bogus. in the final round and not win (Jason Day was the other, at the 2015 Open, also at St. Andrews).
“At the end of the day, it’s not life or death,” said McIlroy, who now has 17 top-10s in the majors since winning his last major PGA title in 2014, four of which have come this year. “I’ll have other chances to win the Open Championship and other chances to win majors. It’s something I feel like I let go, but there will be other opportunities.”
Smith’s back-nine 30 marked the lowest back-nine by an Open winner ever, and his 20-under winning total was the longest record over par (Day at 2015 PGA, Henrik Stenson at 2016 Open and Dustin Johnson at Masters 2020 are the rest).
In winning, the 28-year-old Smith became the first Australian to win the Open in 29 years since Greg Norman also shot 64 to beat Nick Faldo in 1993 at Royal St. George’s. While Smith probably hasn’t done enough yet to guarantee player of the year four-time winner and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, he is the clear top challenger to the world No. 1, now with three wins this season, his at the Open after titles at Kapalua and TPC Sawgrass.
Round of the day: While McIlroy shot 36 on Sunday, Smith had just 29, and that flatstick performance helped him cruise into the low final round by one shot over many players, including Young.
Snapshot of the day: Smith was firing on all cylinders with the putter, but no shot was more critical than his par on No. 17. That unusual up-and-down, which Smith believed to be the clincher of the putter, will be remembered for some time:
“That second shot on 17, it’s really an awkward shot, especially where I was,” Smith explained. “I kind of had to draw a 9-iron. You’re trying to get it to 40 or 50 feet. I just didn’t commit to the shape I wanted to hit and I had a little finger on it and it spun a touch more than I would have liked. Then, the putt by the green, I mean, I was trying to get it within 15 feet, and the putter felt really good all day. I knew if I could get it somewhere there, I could make a really good run at it. Yeah, I did to get away with a 4 there.”
Biggest upset: In what was supposed to be essentially a battle between himself and McIlroy, Hovland went 11 holes without a birdie and never made it count down the stretch, finishing with a 74.
“It was a bit of an anticlimactic thing after yesterday,” Hovland said. “I expected to be there a little while longer. Yeah, I just didn’t have it today.”
