Newsmaker of the month: Cameron Smith
Upon reflection, the parallels to Kel Nagle’s triumph at the Centenary Open at St Andrews in 1960 were undeniable.
Four strokes behind at the start of the final round of the 150th Open Championship, Cameron Smith was charged with playing the role of spoiler.
Just as Nagle did for Arnold Palmer 62 years earlier, Smith was tasked with denying the enormous galleries the Rory McIlroy fairytale they went to bed on Saturday night envisaging.
As McIlroy’s final round somewhat stalled, Smith made up only one stroke on the front nine before unleashing a back nine befitting of the occasion.
With five birdies in succession from the 10th hole of the Old Course, Smith took the outright lead, his back nine of six-under 30 delivering a final round of eight-under 64, the lowest score ever by an Open champion at St Andrews.
His four-round total of 20-under bettered the record held by Tiger Woods since 2000 and gave Australia its first Champion Golfer of the Year since Greg Norman in 1993.
And while Nagle had Peter Thomson on hand to lend a jacket for the presentation ceremony, Smith perhaps benefited from a more divine intervention, Thomson’s son Andrew spreading some of his father’s ashes on golf’s most hallowed ground just metres from where Smith would complete his claret jug coronation.
“To win an Open Championship in itself is probably going to be a golfer’s highlight in their career,” Smith said. “To do it around St Andrews, I think is just unbelievable.”
Headliners
Karrie Webb: The seven-time Major champion showed her competitive spirit remains, getting the better of Annika Sorenstam in a head-to-head Sunday duel to win the Senior LPGA Championship.
Australian PGA Championship: Confirmed that Lucas Herbert and Min Woo Lee will both be in the field to contest the Joe Kirkwood Cup at Royal Queensland from November 24-27. Herbert was also confirmed as a starter for the Australian Open at Victoria and Kingston Heath golf clubs.
Richard Green: The Victorian left-hander recorded the second win of his rookie season on the Legends Tour in Europe, edging Englishman Phillip Archer at the fifth playoff hole to claim the WINSTONgolf Senior Open.
Abbie Teasdale: The 19-year-old member of Royal Fremantle was crowned the English Women’s Amateur champion after a tense 1-up triumph over Davina Xanh at Lindrick Golf Club.
Justice Bosio: The 18-year-old from Caboolture made it all the way to the quarter-finals of the US Girls’ Junior before going down to Floridian Gianna Clemente, 2&1.
Northcote Golf Club: The public course in Melbourne emerged from a tug-of-war over land use with Darebin Council voting to keep the “golf focus” on the council-owned land [see page 20].
Jeffrey Guan: The star on the rise cut a swathe through the field at the US Junior Amateur, ultimately succumbing at the 20th hole of his quarter-final match against American Eric Lee.
Sue Wooster: Won the US Senior Women’s Amateur silver medal for a third time after being beaten by Canadian Shelly Stouffer 4&3 in the final at Anchorage Golf Course in Alaska.
Zac Wolfe: The young Victorian conquered the world, taking out the Boys 6 And Under Final at the US Kids Golf World Championship at Pinehurst.
Keeley Marx: The Victorian teenager won the 15 to 18-year-old girls’ division at the IMG Academy World Championship in San Diego. Australia also won both teams events, with Jye Halls and Kai Komulainen on top in the boys’ championship, and Marx joined by Brielle Mapanao to win the girls’ title.
Kameruka Golf Course: Built in 1915 in the southern New South Wales hinterland west of Merimbula, Kameruka is under consideration by the Heritage Council of NSW for listing on the State Heritage Register in acknowledgement of its heritage significance.
The Scramble: The championship final of Australia’s largest teams event will return to Sanctuary Cove Golf & Country Club for the first time since 1994.
