Cameron Smith caught fire during the middle of his round on Sunday at the Old Course at St Andrews, shooting 8-under 64 to claim victory at The 150th Open Championship, and ruin what seemed like a pre-planned coronation of Rory McIlroy.
The 28-year-old Aussie signed for a bogey-free scorecard comprised of 10 pars and eight birdies, highlighted by five straight gains on Nos. 10-14 and a final-hole birdie on 18 to reach 20-under par, one better than playing partner Cameron Young (65), and two clear of McIlroy (70).
Smith, who earlier in the season won the Tournament of Champions and the PLAYERS Championship, will now enter the postseason as the co-favorite, alongside Scottie Scheffler, to win tour’s MVP award.
“I feel like I can breathe. These last four or five holes aren’t easy around here, especially with the wind up off the left,” said Smith.
“Yeah, just stuck to what I was doing. Yeah, just really proud of how I kind of knuckled down today and managed to get it done.”
For his seventh career win, Smith earned $2,500,000 and 600 FedExCup points, which locked him into the second spot in both money and points. He also picked up 100 world ranking points and is expected to jump four spots, from 6th to No. 2 – a career best position.
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Pro-File: Cam Smith
Name: Cameron Smith
Nationality: Australian
Height: 5′ 11″
Weight: 175 lb
Birthdate: Aug. 18, 1993 (age 28)
Native: Brisbane, Queensland, Aus.
Residence: Jacksonville, FL
Turned Pro: 2013
PGA Tour Rookie: 2016
Best World Rank: 2 (7/17/22)
The 150th Open Leaderboard
Final Top-10 Leaders
Pos-Player-To Par (Rd 4)
1. Cameron Smith -20 (-8)
2. Cameron Young -19 (-7)
3. Rory McIlroy -18 (-2)
4. Tommy Fleetwood -14 (-5)
4. Viktor Hovland -14 (+2)
6. Brian Harman -13 (-6)
6. Dustin Johnson -13 (-3)
8. Bryson DeChambeau -12 (-6)
8. Patrick Cantlay -12 (-4)
8. Jordan Spieth -12 (-4)
Top-5 Payouts
Pos-(Money)
1. Cameron Smith ($2.5m)
2. Cameron Young ($1.5m)
3. Rory McIlroy ($966k)
4. Tommy Fleetwood ($630k)
4. Viktor Hovland ($630k)
Smith’s 2022 PGA TOUR Season
Starts: 16
Cuts Made: 13
Wins: 3 (Sentry TOC, PLAYERS, The OPEN)
Additional Top 10s: 4
Money: $9,847,004 (2nd)
Points: 2,335 (2nd)
World Rank Before/After: 6/2
Smith’s Career Victories
PGA Tour: 6
2022 The Open Championship
2022 The Players Championship
2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions
2021 Zurich Classic
2020 Sony Open
2017 Zurich Classic
European: 2
2018 Australian PGA Championship
2017 Australian PGA Championship
WITB: Cameron Smith 2022
Cameron Smith plays a full bag of Titleist gear, including a Titleist TSi3 driver and Titleist Pro V1x balls.
Driver: Titleist TSi3 (10°)
3-wood: Titleist TSi2 (15°)
7-wood: Titleist TS2 (18°)
Long Iron: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi (3)
Irons: Titleist T100 Black (4-9)
Pitch: Vokey SM9 (46°)
Gap : Vokey SM9 (50°)
Sand: Vokey SM9 (56˚)
Lob: Vokey WedgeWorks (60˚)
Putter: Scotty Cameron 009M Prototype
Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Hat: Titleist
Apparel: Penguin
Shoes: FootJoy
Credits: Getty Images, PGA Tour Media