Smith Surges Sunday at St. Andrews

07/18/2022 Smith Surges Sunday at St. Andrews

By: Jeff Yoder

Hot Putter, 6 Back-9 Birdies Fuel Cameron Smith (-20) to Victory at 150th Open Championship

Sunday at the 150th Open Championship was Rory McIlroy’s to lose, and lose he did. Australian Cameron Smith (-20) fired a birdie-filled back-nine for a Sunday 64 (8-under) to vault McIlory (-18) and Cameron Young (-19) and capture the Claret Jug. Smith started the day four strokes back, but he rode a red-hot putter in a Sunday round that featured two birdies in the first five holes before a string of five straight birdies on the back-nine, capped off with a winning birdie putt on 18. Both McIlroy and Viktor Hovland (-14) began the final round on top, but it was Smith’s moment to shine at St. Andrews.

 

McIlroy’s Turning Point: McIlroy sunk an eagle bunker shot on the 10th Hole Saturday to set up a would-be Sunday challenge against Hovland that had golf fans excited. Both McIlroy and Hovland began Sunday tied at 16-under, but neither got it going. Instead, a lull on Sunday kept McIlroy just 2-under on the day (-18) as Smith and Young charged ahead.

 

Smith’s Major Relief: The 28-year-old Aussie had won five times on the PGA Tour prior to Sunday at St. Andrews, including two victories this year at The Players and Sentry Tournament of Champions. He had never won a major until Sunday.

 

Final Leaderboard

C. Smith (-20)

C. Young (-19)

R. McIlroy (-18)

T. Fleetwood (-14)

V. Hovland (-14)

 

Other Notable Scorecards: D. Johnson (-13), B. DeChambeau (-12), P. Cantlay (-12), J. Spieth (-12), X. Schauffele (-10), A. Scott (-10), S. Scheffler (-9), T. Finau (-8), J. Rahm (-7), P. Reed (-5), J. Thomas (-4) | Full Leaderboard

 

Watch: Cameron Smith Wins 150th Open Championship

 

Additional Storylines

Yahoo! Sports: Cameron Smith Outduels Rory McIlroy to Win 2022 British Open

ESPN: How Cameron Smith Surged at St. Andrews & Stole the Show From Rory McIlroy