McIlroy misses out on British Open crown as Aussie Smith storms to victory – News24

Tuesday, 16 August
17 Jul
Australia’s Cameron Smith claimed his first major title on Sunday after a stunning final round of 64 saw him win the 150th British Open at St Andrews by a one-stroke margin.
Smith began the day four shots off the lead but his eight-under-par final round lifted him to 20-under for the championship and allowed him to finish a shot clear of Cameron Young of the United States, with a frustrated Rory McIlroy another shot back in third.
At the age of 28, Smith is the first Australian in almost three decades to win the British Open since Greg Norman claimed his second Claret Jug at Royal St George’s in 1993.
LEADERBOARD | 150th Open Championship at St Andrews
McIlroy, the favourite coming into the week, had started the day in a share of the lead on 16 under par, alongside Norway’s Viktor Hovland, but the Northern Irishman was left to rue a series of missed birdie putts in his final two-under-par round of 70 as he ended at 18-under.
With Hovland fading badly with a 74, that left the door open for one of the chasing pack and Smith took full advantage thanks to an incredible performance on the back nine.
After reaching the turn at two-under for his round, the world number six embarked on a run of five consecutive birdies from the 10th hole and then rolled in another at the last.
Just before that he showed nerves of steel to save par at the 17th, the legendary Road Hole, but he needed that birdie at the final hole as his playing partner Young produced an eagle to finish with a 65 and end on 19-under.
A play-off was avoided, and the Brisbane native with the trademark mullet has his first major.
It comes after he finished tied third at this year’s Masters, a tournament in which he also came second in 2020.
McIlroy’s wait to win a fifth major title, eight years after his last, goes on and he can only wonder what might have been had he been more ruthless on the greens around St Andrews.
He had been hoping to win his second British Open following his 2014 triumph at Hoylake.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood finished in a tie for fourth alongside Hovland on 14 under par.
Scores after the final round of the 150th British Open on the Old Course at St Andrews on Sunday (GBR/IRL unless stated; Par 72; (a) denotes amateur):
268 – Cameron Smith (AUS) 67-64-73-64
269 – Cameron Young (USA) 64-69-71-65
270 – Rory McIlroy 66-68-66-70
274 – Tommy Fleetwood 72-69-66-67, Viktor Hovland (NOR) 68-66-66-74
275 – Brian Harman (USA) 73-68-68-66, Dustin Johnson (USA) 68-67-71-69
276 – Patrick Cantlay (USA) 70-67-71-68, Bryson DeChambeau (USA) 69-74-67-66, Jordan Spieth (USA) 71-69-68-68
277 – Abraham Ancer (MEX) 71-68-73-65, Dean Burmester (RSA) 71-73-67-66, Tyrrell Hatton 70-66-73-68, Sadom Kaewkanjana (THA) 71-67-74-65
278 – Lucas Herbert (AUS) 70-68-73-67, Kim Si-woo (KOR) 69-69-67-73, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 73-71-66-68, Anthony Quayle (AUS) 74-69-68-67, Xander Schauffele (USA) 69-70-72-67, Adam Scott (AUS) 72-65-70-71
279 – Matt Fitzpatrick 72-66-69-72, Billy Horschel (USA) 73-69-70-67, Kevin Kisner (USA) 74-70-65-70, Min-Woo Lee (AUS) 69-69-73-68, Shane Lowry 72-68-69-70, Scottie Scheffler (USA) 68-68-69-74, Trey Mullinax (USA) 71-73-66-69
280 – Corey Conners (CAN) 71-71-71-67, Tony Finau (USA) 73-71-70-66, Dylan Frittelli (RSA) 70-71-69-70, Thomas Pieters (BEL) 75-67-67-71, Harold Varner III (USA) 73-67-72-68, Will Zalatoris (USA) 73-67-71-69
281 – Thomas Detry (BEL) 70-69-74-68, Talor Gooch (USA) 68-69-75-69, Robert MacIntyre 70-74-69-68, Victor Perez (FRA) 71-69-71-70, Jon Rahm (ESP) 73-67-71-70, Sahith Theegala (USA) 69-68-74-70, Lee Westwood 68-71-73-69, Aaron Wise (USA) 72-67-71-71
282 – Sam Burns (USA) 72-69-77-64, Chris Kirk (USA) 75-68-69-70, Jason Kokrak (USA) 72-70-72-68, Thriston Lawrence (RSA) 69-71-73-69, Adrian Meronk (POL) 75-68-70-69
283 – (a) Filippo Celli (ITA) 74-67-71-71, Garrick Higgo (RSA) 72-69-76-66, Yuto Katsuragawa (JPN) 71-68-75-69, Kim Joo-hyung (KOR) 69-71-72-71, Patrick Reed (USA) 72-68-76-67, Jordan Smith 73-71-72-67
284 – Paul Casey 71-72-71-70, Robert Dinwiddie 67-77-71-69, Nicolai Hoejgaard (DEN) 73-67-71-73, Brad Kennedy (AUS) 68-72-72-72, Joaquin Niemann (CHI) 69-74-73-68, Jason Scrivener (AUS) 72-71-71-70, Justin Thomas (USA) 72-70-72-70, Lars van Meijel (NED) 74-70-71-69, Danny Willett 69-73-73-69
285 – David Carey 72-67-73-73, Russell Henley (USA) 70-72-68-75, Sebastian Munoz (COL) 73-71-71-70, John Parry 69-74-70-72, Ian Poulter 69-72-70-74, Cameron Tringale (USA) 71-71-74-69
286 – Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA) 73-71-68-74, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 75-66-72-73, Richard Mansell 73-71-68-74, Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 71-72-76-67
287 – David Law 72-69-77-69, Kurt Kitayama (USA) 68-73-73-73
288 – Marcus Armitage 71-72-71-74, Justin de Los Santos (PHI) 71-73-70-74
289 – Adri Arnaus (ESP) 74-70-73-72, Wyndham Clark (USA) 71-73-76-69, (a) Aaron Jarvis (CAY) 75-69-72-73
290 – (a) Barclay Brown 68-70-77-75, Laurie Canter 72-70-74-74
292 – (a) Sam Bairstow 72-72-79-69, Im Sung-jae (KOR) 71-73-74-74
296 – Jamie Rutherford 73-70-78-75

16 Jul
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