Agony for Rory McIlroy as he’s beaten to the 150th Open title by Cameron Smith… with the Aussie sinking five birdies in a row for a stunning 64 as Northern Irishman finishes two shots back in third
- Cameron Smith produced a stunning display to win 150th Open Championship
- The Australian inflicted more major misery on a shell-shocked Rory McIlroy
- Smith scored 20 under par to beat the previous best of 19 under by Tiger Woods
Australia’s Cameron Smith produced a stunning final round to capture the 150th Open Championship and inflict more major misery on a shell-shocked Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy held a two-shot lead midway through the final round at St Andrews and carded a bogey-free closing 70, but that was not enough to end his eight-year drought in the game’s biggest tournaments.
Smith, who held the halfway lead before falling four off the pace with a third-round 73, fired eight birdies – including five in a row from the 10th – to card his second 64 of the week and finish 20 under par, beating the previous best of 19 under on the Old Course set by Tiger Woods in 2000.
Australian Cameron Smith (pictured) is crowned champion of the 150th Open at St Andrews
American Cameron Young made a brilliant eagle on the 18th in his closing 65 to force Smith to hole from two feet for his final birdie, leaving McIlroy needing his own eagle to force a four-hole play-off.
However, the 33-year-old was unable to produce a moment of magic and had to settle for a par that meant Smith could celebrate an extraordinary victory at the Home of Golf.
Re-live all the action from Sportsmail’s live blog for the final day of the 2022 Open Championship, including tee times, leaderboard and updates throughout.
Host commentator
Host commentator
Thanks for following our coverage of the final day at The Open. That’s all from us, you can read the report here:
A stunning 64 for Cam Smith, a worthy Champion🏆#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/PqGUMtcvYq
Cameron Smith is the 150th Open champion! Superb display from the Australian at St Andrew’s as McIlroy finishes up on the 18th hole.
One of THE great Final Round displays at The Open 👏
Congratulations, Cameron Smith, the Champion Golfer of the Year#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/vkuPua9Iqv
It was short lived as Cameron Smith restores his lead by picking up a birdie to go -20 as he finishes the 18th hole.
What a performance from the Australian.
Cameron Young gets an eagle on the 18th hole to go -19 and tie the lead with partner Cameron Smith.
What a final hole from the American.
Rory McIlroy nails yet another drive on the 17th to give himself a fighting chance of catching Smith.
His shot receives a huge roar from the crowd. What an exciting finish we have on the cards here at The Open.
Cameron Smith settles for a par on the 17th hole to remain at -19 to take the lead into the final hole of the 150th Open.
The Australian knows just how important that was.
Rory McIlroy cannot get a birdie and has to settle for a par on the 16th hole, to leave him still one behind leader Cameron Smith.
Viktor Hovland is out of the case, as the Norwegian bogeys 16.
Rory McIlroy needs a birdie and fast. He hits the green on 16, but again it looks too much to do for a birdie.
He’s had pars all week here and that doesn’t look likely to change.
-19 Cameron Smith (16)
-18 Rory McIlroy (15)
-17 Cameron Young (16)
-15 Viktor Hovland (15)
-13 Brian Harman (66), Tommy Fleetwood (17), Dustin Johnson (17)
No back-to-back majors for Matt Fitzpatrick but the US Open winner has enjoyed a productive week at St Andrews.
He falters slightly towards the finish line, with three successive bogeys at 15, 16 and 17, but recovers with a birdie at 18 to post a level-par 72 and finish -9.
Australian Cameron Smith gives his birdie putt a good chance, but it goes by on the high side. He settles for a par, but he remains in the lead after 16 holes.
He goes onto the 17th hole next at The Open.
A 13th par of the day for Rory McIlroy. His birdie attempt was beautifully paced but was not quite high enough as it misses on the left.
It’s also a par for Viktor Hovland.
A par at the last gives him a four-under 68 for a 12-under-par total. That’s currently good enough for T8 in The 150th Open.
Another good performance from Jordan Spieth!
Both McIlroy and Hovland have gone left and are in the rough. Can they redeem themselves and remain in the race.
-19 Cameron Smith (15)
-18 Rory McIlroy (14)
-17 Cameron Young (15)
-15 Viktor Hovland (14),
-14Dustin Johnson (16)
-12 Brian Harman (66), Tommy Fleetwood (16)
Cameron Smith remains in the driving seat despite his run of birdies coming to a halt.
No mistake from five feet. Smith’s run of birdies comes to an end but he saves an important par at 15 and he’s three from home.
Rory McIlroy sees another birdie putt shave the side of the hole on the 14th.
That has been the main frustration of the day for the 33-year-old. Playing partner Viktor Hovland does not have any more luck, with his birdie attempt also sliding by.
The American, after a monster drive on 15, clips a nice little wedge in and gets it to check on the second bounce.
That’s no more than 10 feet to tie McIlroy for second.
A par save from the road – that’s Jordan Spieth in a nutshell.
A birdie down the last to share the clubhouse lead for Spieth. He currently sits at -12 (17)
Cameron Smith -19 after 14 holes
Rory McIlroy -18 after 13 holes
Cameron Young -17 after 14 holes
Viktor Hovland -15 after 13 holes
Dustin Johnson -14 after 16 holes
Brian Harman finishes out with a birdie for a six-under 66. That birdie takes him to 13-under-par for the Championship and gives him the clubhouse lead for the time being.
The American is tied in sixth in The Open.
Cameron Young again matches the birdie of his playing partner and he moves to -17.
Smith is seven under for the round, Young five.
Cameron Smith takes the lead with a fifth consecutive birdie to go -19.
The Australian is on fire and seems to be in control of his own destiny now, if he continues to play like this.
Out on his own 🔝
Cam Smith leads #The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/ld8fgbpbpS
Excellent effort and can’t fault the belief, but he gets blown out at the last second and must settle for a par.
He could fall behind Cameron Smith
That is the last thing Viktor Hovland needed.
His drive down the 13th finds a fairway bunker and he is forced to chip out sideways. His third shot into the green will give him a reasonable chance at saving his par though.
No such issues for joint leader McIlroy, who takes a much more cautious approach. His drive finds the semi rough and he takes no chances with his second shot.
Cameron Smith -18
Rory McIlroy -18
Cameron Young -16
Viktor Hovland -16
Cam Smith is co-leader 👀#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/Kt5PiKjBtj
Cameron Smith hits a fourth birdie in a row to go -18 to go level with Rory McIlroy at the top of the leaderboard at The Open.
Superb display from the Australian as he ramps up the pressure.
Viktor Hovland gets his first birdie of the day to go -16. McIlroy has to settle for a par, as he fails to putt for a birdie, but he remains in the lead on the 12th hole.
Smith is -5 for the day, -17 for the Championship, and his tee shot at the 13th finds the fairway.
The Australian is making it an exciting finish.
It was a fine birdie to finish for Bryson DeChambeau. 66 -12.
That leaves him tied in sixth place at The Open
Birdie, birdie, birdie
A fantastic finish for Bryson DeChambeau 🐦🐦🐦#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/XJ0XKZXVA9
McIlroy hits the 11th green, lags a putt, tidies up for par.
Hovland has to do more than that now, however. Good off the tee, but no real chance of a birdie.
Blow for blow
McIlroy answers Smith's birdie with one of his own 🐦#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/iyfCY6SanP
Australian Cameron Smith cuts Rory McIlroy’s lead to one, as he goes to -17 on the 12th hole.
🐦🐦🐦
Cam Smith with a trio of birdies to move to within one shot of the lead 👀
Follow live scores 👉 https://t.co/TobaIOmsjf#The150thOpen #NTTDATAWall #NTTDATA #drivingdatafurther pic.twitter.com/b7FrbVu6AZ
Any faint hopes Jordan Spieth had of a second Claret Jug are surely over now.
He bogeys the par-5 14th to drop back to -11.
Smith -16, Young -15 (11)
Massive misjudgement from Cameron Young at the 12th, coming up woefully short with his second at the short par-four.
Viktor Hovland holds on!
It’s been a tough 10 holes so far for the Norwegian but he saves par with a sumptuous chip and ice-cold putt from about six feet out. He’s barely held anything on the greens but this is a par full of guts.
Brilliant from Rory, whose eagle putt at 10 slides just wide. But he taps in for birdie and moves two clear again after Cameron Smith birdies 11 to take outright second.
That’s me done for the day – I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Mr Jacob Ranson. Enjoy your evening!
Rory’s looking good for my money…
Real crowd pleaser
Drawing the crowds #The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/IUq6uPvwOO
The Camerons now in joint second…
A touch of class from Cam Smith👏#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/Ej0nnvPSW2
Cam Young’s long eagle putt goes close! He has the chance for birdie at 10…
Playing partner Cam Smith takes a similar chance! He joins Viktor Hovland on 15 under – now within two.
Young sinks his too. They’re on the charge…
The Camerons both have decent chances for a birdie on nine, but only par.
Now Hovland and McIlroy hit nice approaches on the same hole and could birdie.
The Norwegian first – it’s a great attempt, but just pulls right at the death. McIlroy now – and it goes over the top of the hole! Too much juice on it!
But he pops in the par. Super consistency.
Dustin Johnson has his third birdie of the day and moves to 13 under, in fifth. Shame he doesn’t care about human rights.
It’s a bogey for Cam Young at the ninth! He was forced to take an ‘unplayable’ ball.
Cam Smith for birdie… Oh! It somehow goes straight over the top of the hole. He makes par.
Young on fire
4️⃣ birdies in 5️⃣ holes Cameron Young and he joins Viktor Hovland on -15, two off the leader
Follow live scores 👉 https://t.co/TobaIOmsjf#The150thOpen #NTTDATAWall #NTTDATA #drivingdatafurther pic.twitter.com/vd0ZSXOqpN
McIlroy and Hovland have decent chances on the eighth… they par.
Cam Young and Adam Scott recover well from their shots into the bushes.
Oof, Cameron Young knocks the ball into a thick gorse bush and he has to find it within three minutes or it’s ball lost!
Adam Scott in the bushes too. Time running out…
McIlroy and Hovland par the seventh, Cams Young and Smith save pars with nerveless, tricky length putts.
On we go.
Adam Scott now into fifth, he’s on 13 under.
On seven, Hovland and McIlroy go close but not close enough with their birdie putts. Should be comfortable par for both.
Bunker cam
Who doesn't love a bunker cam? 📽️#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/naX99n1a4c
Cam Smith is miles away from the flag on seven, at the other end of the green, but hits a nice shot and he should tap in for par.
On the other hand, Cam Young is very close and has a great birdie chance… and he takes it! Just! It hits the lip of the hole and just drops in.
Wonderful improvisation from Rory, who is a decent way from the hole on five but takes the novel and clever approach of using his putter rather than his wedge to get closer.
It’s well judged, and he jogs over to put his coin down before the ball thinks about dropping down the slope!
OH! He’s so, so close with his birdie putt. But he taps in for par and moves on.
Camerons Smith and Young have long birdie putts on six. Probably best to just take the pars, to be honest. And they do.
Elsewhere, Si-woo Kim birdies to move 12 under and joint fifth with Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Scott, and DJ.
Rory has a good try at an eagle, but taps in a birdie. Comfortable.
Oof, Hovland misses a birdie narrowly. He’s now TWO behind Rory.
Rory leads…
Cameron Young joins Cameron Smith on -1️⃣4️⃣ after a birdie on the 5th
Follow our live blog 👉 https://t.co/xYY44zAFs3#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/j2LCkFId6Q
Rory McIlroy leads #The150thOpen on his own after Viktor Hovland bogeys the 4th 🔝
Follow live scores 👉 https://t.co/TobaIOmsjf#The150thOpen #NTTDATAWall #NTTDATA #drivingdatafurther pic.twitter.com/YpjyhoRbBw
McIlroy hits a massive booming drive on five, and follows it up with a super approach shot, he’ll have an outside chance at eagle and a great chance for birdie. Hovland into the semi-rough.
Cam Smith birdies the fifth! And so does Cam Young! They’re now just one behind Hovland and two behind Rory.
Aussie Adam Scott moves to 12 under too with a birdie at 7, but Spieth bogeys and drops to 11 under.
Rory pars the dangerous fourth. Hovland will have a tricky putt for par…
And he misses! He half-sinks to his knees in frustration. McIlroy has the sole lead – Hovland now on 15 under.
Ooh, on the fourth Rory hits a nice shot but Hovland’s a long way from the pin. If Rory pars, he could take the lead, with a tough save for par for Hovland.
Jordan Spieth moves to four behind the leaders with a birdie.
Cam Young birdies the fourth to join Cam Smith on 13 under, three off the lead. Money-grabbing LIV lackey Dustin Johnson is now in outright fifth and 12 under.
Also nice from Tommy Fleetwood, who birdies the fourth to move to 11 under.
Congratulazioni, Filippi
Congratulations to the leading amateur and winner of the Silver Medal, Filippo Celli 🥈
The Italian joins an historic group 🇮🇹#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/I6R7mQthEN
Brilliant, Rory. He is lucky as his tee shot flirts with the edge of the bunker. But he capitalises next up on the third, hitting his approach very close. This will be a birdie chance.
Hovland for birdie now – from 10 ft 3 ins – oh, but it inches right. Close. AND MCILROY’S OFF THE RIM! CENTREMETRES AWAY! Par is respectable but that was a real chance to take the outright lead.
Lower down, Xander Schauffele – who narrowly missed with an albatross but putted an eagle – and Adam Scott move to 11 under, with Matt Fitzpatrick on 10 under.
Smith is so close to a birdie at the third, but it just slips left. Par. But Young birdies to move level for the round after his earlier bogey.
Course updates
By the way, amateur Italian Filippo Celli has finished with five under. What a wonderful tournament from him.
Another view of those first two tee shots from our leaders 👀
Follow The Open closer than ever 👉 https://t.co/cGEQnp3ixa#ShotView #NTTDATA pic.twitter.com/OpOlCoPHC8
'That's how you do it'
Cam Smith is on the prowl#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/Nc3Sik7lCI
One American goon shouts ‘Mashed potato!’ after Rory’s tee shot. Nonsense. Par, by the way, for Rory Mac and Hovland on the second. Rory pulled his birdie putt narrowly wide.
Jordan Spieth is three under through five, now five shots off the lead.
Like-for-like for the leaders, who land on similar positions on the second green.
Scottie Scheffler is frustrated – he’s had three good birdie chances on the first three and not taken any of them. He swings his club in frustration. He’d be two behind if he’d holed them all!
Par on the first for the leaders.
Hang on! Cameron Smith, who’s also made a good start, birdies the third and is now just three behind… par for playing partner Young.
Uh oh. Cam Young’s birdie putt (from a fair way out) is short, and his short par putt misses. Bogey on the first.
Eccentric Brit Tyrrell Hatton is four shots under through the first six! He’s 11 under – five behind the leaders.
Rory, on the first hole, hits it over the water and onto the green comfortably. He looks in good touch already.
And Hovland gets even closer! Brilliant.
Joint leaders Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland are underway!
McIlroy got the biggest ovation of the day so far ahead of his tee shot.
Both hit the middle of the fairway.
It all comes down to this…
Where it will all be decided #The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/krEBi0R9yO
Aussie Smith and Yank Young are both underway with decent tee shots. Only one pairing left to come – joint leaders Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland.
More course updates
-🔟 Tommy into double figures 💪 He starts with a birdie on the 1st 🐦
Follow our live blog 👉 https://t.co/xYY44zAFs3#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/e8KF5sVo6k
Filippo Celli + 🦅 = 🥈?#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/wez86kW2Wt
Nearing the end of his Open tournament, Sadom Kaewkanjana of Thailand is doing brilliantly and is at six under after 15 holes, with four birdies and an eagle to his name.
If he gets two more birdies (or equivalent) he will level with Sam Burns for the best round today, with 64 (eight under par).
Big comeback unlikely…
A stat from the archives below.
Not necessarily great news for Scottie Scheffler or Kim Si-woo, currently five shots behind, or LIV stooge Dustin Johnson, who’s six adrift.
The largest final round comeback in any of the 22 editions of #TheOpen at St Andrews in the 72-hole era is 4 shots.
New pin positions!
Shall we try that again?
PIN POSITIONS for the Final Round of #The150thOpen
👇 pic.twitter.com/PHK0l32CJw
14:20: Dustin Johnson and Tommy Fleetwood
14:30: Scottie Scheffler and Si-woo Kim
14:40: Cameron Young and Cameron Smith
14:50: Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland
Eight years, 414 weeks, 2,898 days is the length of Rory’s wait for a major. That could end today.
Are you looking forward to this as much as me?
The US Open champion gets a good reception from the St Andrews crowd. He starts on nine under – seven shots behind the leaders.
The now 33-year-old won his first four majors in quick succession – the 2011 US Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship and 2014 PGA Championship.
Since then, it’s been an eight-year drought, across the last 29 majors, for the gifted Northern Irishman.
23 different players have lifted a major since Rory’s last – 19 of them first-time winners. Can he break that long drought today? We’ll find out in not too long – McIlroy and playing partner Viktor Hovland of Norway tee off at 2.50pm.
Let’s hear from the man himself…
Rory isn't taking anything for granted on Sunday at St Andrews 🗣#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/dHFsVtxvXr
Rory battling to save golf’s soul
Updates from the course
What a front 9 for Chris Kirk
This monster putt moves him to -8 🔼#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/KkOq6ejH6A
'That is the only way to do it'
Justin Thomas dials one in at 16#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/kBtmM2aoL3
Ian Poulter is out on the course in typically eccentric trousers. You’d think millions of tainted dollars would buy something more fetching.
If you hear any noises that sound like boos, Ian, they’re probably just expressing their support.
There were several moments of magic!
But the headline news yesterday was about Rory!
McIlroy has set up a duel for the ages! The Northern Irishman and Viktor Hovland had St Andrews rocking… so it’s only right the pair will go head-to-head on Sunday for Open supremacy.
See Sportsmail’s report from Saturday from Golf Correspondent Derek Lawrenson.
The big-hitting American, setting off, lands his tee shot in the fairway, as does playing partner Francesco Molinari. Both are on six under par – 10 shots off the lead.
Fitzy struggled a little too
Tricky times for the US Open champion. He’s now seven shots behind going into today.
So what happened yesterday?
Well, the winner at Portrush three years ago, Shane Lowry, recorded back-to-back eagles on the 9th and 10th holes to put himself back in contention, but found it difficult thereafter.
More on LIV from Sportsmail
Here’s Sportsmail’s Oliver Holt on the subject!
Ian Poulter booed
One of those, former Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter, was booed as he teed off, but has insisted the crowd has supported him.
One of the biggest talking points this weekend is the presence of ‘LIV’ golfers. What’s that all about?
Well, former icon Greg Norman is leading a breakaway or ‘rebel’ tour called the LIV Golf Series, and backed by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia (the same lot who bought Premier League side Newcastle).
There are MASSIVE amounts of money on offer for those who join, which must be a great source of comfort for those who have signed up, overlooking the extremely questionable human rights abuses of the country, for example:
Association with the murder and dismemberment of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a poor record on women’s rights and LGBT+ rights, poor press freedom, regular executions, etc etc.
But they’re paying a lot, so it’s apparently fine. So many golf fans are showing their displeasure at those who have put bags of tainted money before morals signed up for LIV.
So although the big hitters won’t be out for a while yet, I’ll be bringing you all the updates from the famous old St Andrews course, plus news, views, and any other bits from this weekend’s tournament.
The likes of Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm have just teed off. Selected other times (all in BST) are below!
12.35: Ian Poulter, 1.25: Tyrrell Hatton, 1.35: Shane Lowry, then:
14:00: Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay
14:10: Adam Scott and Matt Fitzpatrick
14:20: Dustin Johnson and Tommy Fleetwood
14:30: Scottie Scheffler and Si-woo Kim
14:40: Cameron Young and Cameron Smith
14:50: Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland
It’s certainly been remarkable viewing…
… and much of that has been down to Sky Sports’ army of 650 people and 125 cameras making the coverage the best it can be.
See Sportsmail’s story right here.
Here we are then. The final day of the Open championship at St Andrews.
Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland leading the way, plenty of stars on their tail.
Who’s up for this then?
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