An emotional Cameron Smith was seen welling up when accepting the Claret Jug, after the Australian was crowned Open Champion at St Andrews on Sunday. Smith carded a scintillating eight-under-par 64 in the final round to topple overnight leader Rory McIlroy.
His victory at the Old Course was his first ever major title, and upon accepting his prize was seen fighting back the tears. With his overriding emotions boiling over, the Australian struggled to find the words during his post-victory speech before going on to describe the win as ‘unreal’.
Smith said: “Jeez what a week. I'm going to fall apart here I know! I want to thank the team for all the hard work we've done.
“The last couple of years it has really started to pay off and this one definitely makes it worth it. It was absolutely awesome out there, I thought the course was exactly how an Open Championship should be played; firm and fast, tough pins - it was just unreal."
Smith’s victory was an at Open win like no other, claiming the Claret Jug at the Home of Golf in the 150th edition of the sport’s oldest competition. Commenting on just how special it was to win the trademark event, the Aussie told Sky Sports: “It's just unreal. This place is so cool.
"To have the 150th Open here and walk away with the win is just something that I've dreamt of. I didn't even know I was going to get this far and it's just awesome.It's unreal to look at these names on this trophy and to add mine. I'm lost for words.”
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Giving an insight into his post-tournament celebrations this evening, he added: “I'm definitely going to find out how many beers fit in this thing that's for sure!" The 28-year-old headed into the final round four shots behind overnight leaders McIlroy and Viktor Hovland.
Following a steady start, Smith made his move to the top of the leaderboard after the turn, as he remarkably picked up five straight birdies between the 10th and 14th to see him leapfrog ahead of the leading McIlroy on 19-under. The Northern Irishman just could not find an answer to the newly crowned champion’s heroics, as he saw a number of putts roll agonisingly by.
McIlroy’s loss was, of course, Smith’s gain, as the Aussie was able to keep his cool in the group ahead. He then added an all-important birdie at the last to see off McIlroy and the Australian’s playing partner Cameron Young to win the tournament with an impressive 20-under-par 268 across the four rounds.
