Cam Smith chases down Rory McIlroy with blistering back 9 to win Open Championship
- Cam Smith chased down Rory McIlroy in the final round to win the Open Championship.
- Smith made his run on the back nine, hitting five straight birdies to jump into the lead.
Cam Smith added his name to golf history on Sunday at the Old Course at St. Andrews, erasing a four-stroke deficit with a brilliant final round to chase down Rory McIlroy and win the Open Championship, the first major victory of his young career.
Heading into Sunday, McIlroy was tied with Norway's Viktor Hovland atop the leaderboard, with four strokes separating them from the rest of the pack. It looked as though it would be a two-horse race through the final round, but as Hovland's play fell off a bit after a blistering Saturday, Smith heated up.
The Australian rode a hot putter to snake in five straight birdies to kick off his back nine at the Old Course, charging up the leaderboard. Meanwhile, McIlroy could not sink a putt for his life. While he wasn't dropping strokes, Smith's push was strong enough to overtake him, giving the Aussie one-stroke cushion heading into the final stretch.
Smith almost fumbled away his victory at the 17th. After leaving his approach short, Smith was left with a treacherous look at the pin, needing to navigate either over or around a bunker to leave himself a look for par.
Rather than risk chipping over the green, Smith elected to putt, riding the in-slope of the bunker towards the flagstick. His touch was perfect, leaving him a lengthy, but makeable, par putt. He sunk it.
At the 18th, Smith relied on his touch again, this time setting himself up for a birdie that would prove to be the winning stroke.
McIlroy was unable to match Smith with an eagle at the last, giving Smith the Claret Jug.
After the win, Smith said he had a simple celebration planned: beer.
With the win, Smith becomes just the second golfer to win the Players Championship and the Open Championship in the same season, joining Jack Nicklaus.
That's some pretty good company.