Cameron Smith revealed his old man missed out on his magical Open triumph because he couldn’t be bothered travelling from Australia to St Andrews for a week.
The Queenslander was the daddy at the 150th Championship with a blistering final-round of 64 to shatter home favourite Rory McIlroy and the rest at the Old Course. Smith claimed the Claret Jug by a shot from American Cameron Young to carve his name into the folklore of the game with a searing triumph at the Home of Golf.
The 28-year-old wished his father Des was in attendance to see him seal his greatest-ever success. But he was left kicking himself after deciding against a long flight as the Champion explained: “Actually, I don’t have any family here. My dad was meant to come over and he pulled out at the last minute, basically. I had a quick chat with him before. It was kind of the thought of doing all that travel for one week, basically.
“He’s definitely kicking himself now. And I really wish he was here, too. It would have been such a cool week, even without this, to be at the Home of Golf. Dad loves his golf as well. It would have been awesome.”
Asked if he’d had a message, he said: “I haven’t looked at my phone yet. When you win golf tournaments, you have friends that you didn’t even know were friends. So I’m sure it’s going to be busy.”
Smith became the first Aussie to win The Open since Greg Norman triumphed in 1993 at Sandwich. Ironically, as he was collecting the trophy, rumours were sweeping St Andrews that he was about to join the Great White Shark’s controversial LIV Golf set up.
Smith shut the matter down at his champions media briefing when quizzed as he said: “I’ve just won the British Open and you’re asking about that? I think that’s pretty not that good.”
But, when pushed again, he refused to deny by adding: “I don’t know, mate. My team around me worries about all that stuff. I’m here to win golf tournaments.”
Smith’s defection immediately after a St Andrews win would send shockwaves through the sport, but last night was about his achievement. Kel Nagle won the Centenary Open in 1960 on the same course. The latest winner won the 150th staging to put his name alongside him, Norman, Peter Thomson and Ian Baker-Finch on the Jug.
He said: “That’s pretty cool. I think just in general, all the names on there, every player that’s been at the top of their game has won this championship. Yeah, it’s pretty cool to be on there.”
When told of Nagle’s timing, he smiled: “I didn’t know that. I think, to win an Open Championship in itself is probably going to be a golfer’s highlight in their career. To do it around St Andrews, I think is just unbelievable. This place is so cool. I love the course. I love the town. Hopefully we can keep that trend going with every 50 years. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
Smith, meanwhile, has made it clear that his magic mullet is likely to be staying as a good luck charm after his victory.
The Aussie had stated at the start of the year that he would chop off his trademark locks if he secured a big title, but, after winning the Players Championship at Sawgrass, he decided to keep it.
Now after St Andrews success, Smith reckons it’s again going to dodge the scissors as he smiled: “I think it’s going to stay, mate.”
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