Seth Udinski, FISM News
On Sunday, Australian golfer Cameron Smith won the 150th British Open at St. Andrews in England, accomplishing the impressive feat with a record-low score.
The 28-year-old Smith finished 20-under par for the weekend, with a final round score of 8-under par at 64 strokes, which set a new record at St Andrew’s. He also became the first Australian to win the historic tournament at St. Andrews since Kel Nagle did it back in 1960, and the first Aussie to win it anywhere since current CEO of LIV Golf Greg Norman accomplished the feat in 1993.
Smith was aided by a tremendous eagle putt on the 13th green on Friday in one of the highlights from the weekend:
A man on a mission 👀
Cameron Smith drains the eagle putt at 14 and extends his lead to 3 shots at #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/c6EOnUexZI
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 15, 2022
He stormed back from four strokes down against Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, thanks in part to a brilliant 18th hole on the final day. Smith faced an 80-foot putt for eagle and rolled it right up to the pin for a gimmie birdie to finish the tournament 20 strokes under par.
“All the names on there, every player that’s been at the top of their game has won this championship. It’s pretty cool to be on there. It really hasn’t sunk in yet. I don’t think it will for a few weeks. Yeah, it’s just unreal,” Smith said during an interview after sealing his victory.
Smith finished atop the leaderboard at 20-under par, followed by American Cameron Young at 19-under and McIlroy at 18-under.
The 2022 British Open was held under a cloud of controversy stemming from the going rivalry between the PGA and its newest foe, LIV Golf.
To date, LIV Golf has snatched multiple former-PGA stars and coaxed them to join the new league. Experts believe this is mainly because the Saudi-owned league has the money to grab and keep the big names, which to date include the likes of Phil Mickelson, Brooke Koepka, Dustin Johnson, and Ian Poulter, among others.
The British Open, with no formal ties to the PGA, allows PGA, LIV, and other affiliates to compete.
When asked about his interest in joining LIV after his Open win, Smith, who is still loyal to the PGA, appeared caught off guard. He said, “I just won the British Open, and you’re asking about that. I think that’s pretty not that good. I don’t know, mate. My team around me worries about all that stuff. I’m here to win golf tournaments.”
Some accused Smith of delivering a non-answer, which has led to rumors that he is planning to switch to LIV in the near future.