Planted before the gates of Olympus, Cameron Smith (28) took out his putt and used it as a key. The doors soon opened and the Australian grabbed the jar of claret with all his might. It was his on his own merits. There is no doubt what club in his bag has been key for the man with the golden tresses to finally inscribe his name along with other legends, signing in Saint Andrews –there is no better place to debut– his first Grand Slam victory , a British Open for the legend.
It was an unexpected outcome for the 150th edition of the world's oldest tournament, of that there is no doubt. Because no matter how long Smith had been lurking in the honey of glory (3rd in the Masters and 13th in the PGA this year), the last day on the Old Course had drawn what seemed like an exciting duel between Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy, the undisputed fan favourite, who started four shots ahead. But the Norwegian fell early from the race, perhaps his nerves got the better of him, while the Northern Irishman seemed to have the situation under control until the Australian's devastating attack came on the second nine holes.
Smith, a native of Brisbane and passionate about mechanics, had already won five PGA Tour tournaments and in the big ones he had earned opportunities to make his debut but had always failed in the final sprint. Quite the opposite of what he experienced in Saint Andrews, where his last nine holes were to frame. With the birdie with which he closed his round on the 18th green, the Australian reached -20 to the tournament total and entered history. To begin with, it equaled the lowest result in the entire history of Grand Slam tournaments and, on top of that, it beat the lowest result that had ever been achieved in an Open in Saint Andrews, the -19 signed by Tiger Woods in the 2000 edition, at the height of his career.
Smith, like all his competitors, have benefited from a most benevolent week in the links par excellence. The lack of wind, the main defense that these very particular and centuries-old fields have, has caused many players to end up with very low results, which in any other edition would have been worth them to win. But not this year because Smith has putted like the gods.
McIlroy is still looking for his fifth major since 2014 and it is not easy to explain why he has not won this British. He started the day with a comfortable lead and nobody can put a single but around him. He played from tee to green like only he can and putted some good putts ... that most didn't want to go into. The Northern Irishman did not commit a single bogey, nor did Smith. The difference was in the birdies: two against eight. The putt was decisive.
With the tournament under control, the key moment came in the second round. Smith started with five straight birdies, making some great putts while behind him McIlroy struggled to find the hole. With the last of the five consecutive birdies, on the 14th hole Smith snatched the tournament lead from his rival for the first time and did not let her escape. McIlroy birdied the 10th but from then until the end he chained one pair after another that even condemned him to finishing third, behind rookie Cameron Young.
The most tense moment in Smith's lap came near the end, when he missed the second shot on the fearsome 17 but miraculously avoided the Road Hole Bunker. Rather than play high, he decided to putt around the trap on one side and then sealed the biggest par of his life with a fifteen-foot putt.
