Smith's stunning Open victory
Cameron Smith, who learned to play golf at Wantima Country Club in Brendale, has this morning won the sport’s biggest prize – The Open Championship.
Smith came from four shots down to with the 150th Open title by one shot at the legendary “home of golf” St Andrews, in Scotland.
It was the 28 year old's first victory in one of golf's four major championships and places him among the greatest names in the sport's history.
He had five consecutive birdies from the 10th hole to record a final round 64 and a 20-under-par total, which beat Tiger Woods’ record on the course.
'Legendary'
Accolades immediately flowed with Sir Nick Faldo, a three-time Open champion, describing the former Bray Park resident’s final round as “legendary”.
Headlines are already tagging his performance as a “Major Miracle” and “incredible Open blitz”
Smith, who went to Pine Rivers State High School, has joined arguable the greatest golfer of all time Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win The Open and Players’ Championship in the same year.
In an interview on the PGA Tour website, Smith described holding the winner’s Claret Jug as “unreal”.
Dream come true
“It’s something I’ve dreamt of since I was a kid growing up playing golf. To win it here at St Andrews is pretty special.”
After receiving the famous trophy an emotional Smith said: "This one's for Oz".
Smith’s father Des, a fine golfer himself, told ABC Radio his phone had not stopped ringing since his son lifted the trophy.
Des said he spoke to Cam shortly after his win but had to cut the call short because the proud dad was getting too emotional.
He credited Cam’s ability to perform under enormous pressure and said he didn’t know how it he did it - it was just the person he was.
Des said Cam teased him saying he bet his dad wished he had made the trip to the tournament.
The win capped four remarkable days in which Cam's 131 was also the fourth lowest score for the opening two rounds of The Open Championship.