It became quite an improbable drama on the last day of The Open.
Main player Rory McIlroy who came out on top lost and took third place.
Instead, Cameron Smith won his first major title of his career after a crazy finish.
Global runner-up Rory McIlroywho has not won a major tournament since 2014, went out by a wide margin and in command of the ball with Norway’s Victor Hovland before the fourth round.
Hovland, 24, finished at best 12th in a major competition and now has to wait a little longer.
The duo started out equally firmly in the first three holes. On the fourth hole, the Norwegian made a foul, making a bogey and catapulting McIlroy into the lead single-handedly.
Hovland lost
Hovland then made a jumper on the 12th hole, but bogeying on both the 13th and 16th meant his chances of winning were lost and he ended up splitting by four.
Before the final nine holes, McIlroy led a total of 17 under-barrel strokes. But in the back, Cameron Young, USA, and Cameron Smith, Australia, chased each other.
Young started out as a ghost, but four birds on five holes in the first nine made him a real threat. But Smith would be worse than that.
birdcage rack
He started with two sparrows in the first nine before making five straight sparrows from holes 10 through 14 which had him swarming around McIlroy in one stroke.
Young did the same when he finished with Eagle on the 18th hole and stayed at 65 strokes, seven under par for the day and a total of 19 under par.
But this was not enough for victory. Smith put another birdie in 18th place, remaining at 64 lashes, eight below that for the day and a total of 20 under par.
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The only person he could challenge now was McIlroy but then he had to make an eagle on the last hole.
Smith, who had previously finished second in a major competition, had to wait nervously for what the Northern Irish would bring. But Rory McIlroy was unsuccessful, remaining 18 under par and Smith winning his first major title of his career.
– It was really cool there. I think the course was like a British Open being played, hard and fast with tough placements. It was unreal, thank you very much, Smith said at the awards show that he had a hard time holding back his tears.
This is for Australia.
– I’ll break up here. I would like to thank the team behind me for all the hard work and that makes it so worth it.
Earlier this year, he won the Players Championship, sometimes called the men’s “fifth major.”
– I’ve had a lot of support there, especially from my Australian fans. He says this is for Australia.