The 150th playing of the oldest major championship at the Home of Golf doesn’t need any extra hype, but Sunday’s final round of the 2022 British Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews got better and better as the day went on.
The round started with Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland tied atop the leaderboard at 16 under but ended with Cameron Smith picking up the win to hoist the Claret Jug and earn the title of Champion Golfer at the Year. The 28-year-old Aussie shot an 8-under 64, his second 64 of the week, on Sunday to win the first major championship of his career. Smith also claimed the Players Championship earlier this year at TPC Sawgrass.
Now a six-time PGA Tour winner, Smith made a late charge thanks to six birdies on his back nine, five in a row on Nos. 10-14 with the final coming on the 18th to take a one-shot lead at 20 under.