That a major doesn’t begin until the back nine on Sunday remains one of golf’s oldest clichés, but for Rory McIlroy it might never have felt so devastatingly accurate. The Northern Irishman had held a two-shot lead at the turn at St Andrews and the end to an eight-year major drought seemed to be gathering certainty with every step through the wind away from the clubhouse. Then, Cameron Smith mounted a charge of such relentless brilliance that even a course as saturated with history as this had no option but to bow before him. Having started four shots off McIlroy’s lead, six birdies in the last nine holes ensured the Australian of his maiden major title with an Open record-equalling low score of 20 under par.
This 150th Open Championship was a glorious ceasefire in golf’s civil war – although not if rumours of Smith’s potential defection to LIV Golf come to fruition – but it will be best remembered as another agonising near-miss for McIlroy, who showed such great composure in the final group alongside Viktor Hovland only to be continually betrayed by his putter. A round of 70 was hardly a collapse but it was the worst of those who finished on the first page of the leaderboard and he was even leapfrogged to second place at the last when Cameron Young capped a remarkable Open debut with an eagle.
