Cameron Smith

Smith won the 150th British Open, held at the Old Course at St. Andrews, by a shot over Cameron Young to earn his first major championship. Held a two-shot lead after the second round with rounds of 67-64, and after a third-round 73, entered the final round trailing by four shots. On the front nine on Sunday, Smith shot two-under 34. On the back nine, he made five birdies in a row, starting on the 10th hole, and topped the day with a birdie at 18 to shoot 30 and 64. He was one better than Cameron Young, who made an eagle at the final hole. He was two shots better than Rory McIlroy, who had a share of the third-round lead. Smith shot 20-under, 268, the lowest score ever shot in an Open at St. Andrews and matching Henrik Stenson's 20-under-par total in the 2016 Open at Troon, the lowest to-par score in a major. His remarkable 30 on the back nine was, the lowest ever by a British Open champion. Became the first player to win The Players Championship and British Open in the same year since Jack Nicklaus in 1978.
Smith's father, Des, a well-known club baseballer before becoming a scratch golfer, got Smith started in the game at age 3, taking him to Wantima Country Club just outside of Brisbane, Australia. Smith was playing six-hole competitions as a 5-year-old with cut-down clubs and by age 10, had a single-digit handicap. His amateur wins included the 2013 Australian Amateur Championship, 2012 Australian Junior Championship, 2012 Australian Stroke Play Championship, and 2011 Nomura Cup individual title. He also represented Australia at the 2012 Eisenhower Trophy.
Played in two events on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2013: Missed the cut at the Mylan Classic and T-61st at Price Cutter Charity.
Finished 5th on the 2014 Asian Tour Order of Merit as a rookie. Had seven top-10s in nine starts. He finished T-5th in his debut on the PGA Tour at the CIMB Classic in the fall of 2014 (2015 season) five shots behind champion Ryan Moore. Smith was the first player to finish in the top 10 of a PGA Tour event in his debut since Chris Wood's T-5th at the 2008 British Open. In fact, other than Smith and Wood, only Anthony Kim (T-2nd at the 2006 Valero Texas Open) and Andres Romero (T-8th at 2006 British Open) have picked up top-10 finishes in their Tour debuts since 2000. Like Russell Henley, who won the 2013 Sony Open in his first professional start on the PGA Tour, others had competed previously in Tour events as amateurs.
2015 Notes: When Smith finished T-5th at the CIMB Classic, he earned an exemption for the next PGA Tour event. So at the last minute, it was off on a 25-hour trip to Mississippi, where he missed the cut. After that, he received other invitations to play on the PGA Tour through sponsor exemptions. Smith experienced another magical moment at the U.S. Open. After missing the cut at The Memorial, he played in the U.S. Open qualifying, where he shot 69-67 to earn a spot in the field. At the U.S. Open, he posted a pair of 70s, then a third-round 69. In the final round, he shot even par on the first nine and was one over par through 15, but birdied 16 and eagled 18 to shoot 68 and finish T-4th. The importance of his eagle at the last hole meant he would play at the Masters in 2016. With a good finish at the U.S. Open, he was able to climb to 89th in the Official World Golf Ranking, which secured a spot at the PGA Championship. With the finish, Smith also picked up non-member FedExCup points. He was at 362 points, which placed him about 10 positions away from possibly getting a crack at a full PGA Tour card for 2016. Smith finished T-25th at the PGA Championship and T-18th at the Wyndham, enough to put him into the top 125 of the FedExCup points list as a non-member, so he earned his PGA Tour membership for 2016. He ended his year with a T-36th at the UNIQLO Masters, T-13th at the Emirates Australian Open, and 5th at the Australian PGA Championship.
2016 Notes: Made 13 cuts in 24 PGA Tour starts. Best finish was T-11th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He ranked 157th in both the FedExCup standings and the money list. Because he lost his PGA Tour card, he went to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. After a T-28th at the DAP Championship and missed cut at the Albertsons Boise Open, he made his third career Korn Ferry Tour start at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship, where he moved into the final-round lead with birdies at three of his first four holes on the back nine. Bogeyed the par-4 15th to finish runner-up, one shot behind winner Grayson Murray eventually. Secured a return to the PGA Tour for the 2016-17 season by finishing 7th in the final priority-ranking order.
2017 Notes: Got off to a good start in the new season, finishing T-11th at the Sanderson Farms Championship and T-10th at the Shriners Hospitals Open. At the end of the calendar year, he returned to Australia, where he finished T-2nd at the Australian Open and T-15th at the Australian PGA Championship. Finished T-6th at the Valero Texas Open. The next week won his first PGA Tour event with a birdie at the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with teammate Jonas Blixt, defeating the team of Kevin Kisner/Scott Brown. The duo shot 67-62-68-64 and went bogey-free for all 76 holes played (including the playoff), earning 400 FedExCup points and $1,022,400 each. At 23 years, 8 months, and 13 days, Smith became the fourth-youngest Australian to win on Tour (three players) behind Jason Day (22) and Adam Scott (23/twice). Finished T-7th at the Wyndham Championship and played in the first three FedExCup events. He earned a T-12th result at the BMW Championship, but it wasn't enough to get into the top 30. He finished 46th in the FedExCup standings.
2018 Notes: Played 24 PGA Tour events, making 18 cuts with seven top-10 finishes. He was 12th in the FedExCup standings. Got off to a great start, finishing T-5th at the CIMB Classic and 3rd at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges, just a stroke out of the Thomas/Leishman playoff. Finished 4th at the Emirates Australian Open and won the Australian PGA Championship, defeating Jordan Zunic on the second hole of a playoff. Finished T-6th at the Genesis Open and lost to Alex Noren, 4 & 2, in the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship quarterfinals. He finished T-5th at the Masters, six shots behind Patrick Reed. Entered the FedExCup playoffs at 53rd in the standings before finishing T-3rd at the Northern Trust and 3rd at the WGC-Dell Technologies Championship, three strokes behind winner Bryson DeChambeau. Reached the Tour Championship for the first time, finishing 20th.
2019 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour events, making 17 cuts with three top-10 finishes. Ranked 84th in the FedExCup standings. Was T-7th at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges, then T-10th at the Emirates Australian Open. For the second consecutive year, he won the Australian PGA Championship, two strokes better than Marc Leishman. Was T-9th at the Farmers Insurance Open and T-6th at the WGC-Mexico Championship. In the FedExCup playoffs, he finished T-59th at the Northern Trust. He ended his year with a T-27th at the Emirates Australian Open and T-10th at the Australian PGA Championship. In his first Presidents Cup, he played in three matches, he was 1-1-1, defeating Justin Thomas 2 & 1 in singles.
2020 Notes: Played in 19 PGA Tour events, making 13 cuts with two top-10 finishes. Ranked 24th in the FedExCup standings. Was T-3rd at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges. Won the Sony Open in Hawaii, defeating Brendan Steele in a playoff. He struggled when he returned after the COVID-19 break. In the FedExCup playoffs, finished T-18th at the Northern Trust, T-20th at the BMW Championship, and T-24th at the Tour Championship.
2021 Notes: Played in 24 PGA Tour events, making 21 cuts with eight top-ten finishes. Was T-14th in the FedExCup standings. Finished 11th at the CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek. The following week, he finished T-4th at the Zozo Championship @ Sherwood, four shots behind winner Patrick Cantlay. Finished T-2nd at the 2020 November Masters, five shots back of winner Dustin Johnson. Shot scores of 67-68-69-69 to become the first player in tournament history to card four scores in the 60s in one year. Shot a final-round 67 to finish 4th at The Genesis Invitational, three shots back of the Max Homa/Tony Finau playoff. Was T-10th at the Masters and T-9th at the RBC Heritage. Won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Marc Leishman, earning his third PGA Tour title and second in the team format at TPC Louisiana (won in 2017 with Jonas Blixt). Australian duo defeated the South African pair of Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel in a playoff with a par on the first extra hole. Represented Australia at the Tokyo Olympic Games, finishing T-10th, a shot back from getting into the playoff for the bronze medal. He was two shots back of the third-round leader at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational but shot a final-round 72 to finish T-5th, two shots back of the Ancer/Burns/Matsuyama playoff. In the FedExCup Playoffs, he shot a third-round 60 at the Northern Trust to hold a share of the lead. Shot 67 in the final round, but Tony Finau shot 65 to tie them, and Smith hit his tee shot out of bounds on the first playoff hole as Finau won the tournament. Was T-34th at the BMW Championship and T-14th at the Tour Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 18 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts with seven top-ten finishes. He was 20th in the FedExCup standings. T-9th at the CJ Cup @ Summit, five shots back of winner Rory McIlroy. Was T-4th at the RSM Classic, seven shots back of winner Talor Gooch. Won the Sentry Tournament of Champions by a shot over Jon Rahm, earning his fourth career PGA Tour victory in his 157th start. With a total of 34-under 258, he became the first player in PGA Tour history to finish a 72-hole event 34-under or better. Became the sixth player to win both PGA Tour events in Hawaii, joining Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Zach Johnson, and Justin Thomas (Smith won the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2020). Was T-4th at the Saudi International, four shots back of winner Harold Varner III. Won The Players Championship by a shot over Anirban Lahiri, earning his fifth PGA Tour title and second of the season. Became the third consecutive winner of the event to enter the week in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking (was 10th in ranking). Became the fifth Australian to win The Players, joining Steve Elkington, Greg Norman, Adam Scott, and Jason Day. Led the field in strokes Gained Putting, becoming the third winner of the event in the ShotLink era (est. 2003) to lead the field in that category. Made 10 birdies in the final round, becoming the fourth player to make 10 or more birdies in a round at The Players (1983-present). He finished T-3rd at the Masters, his fourth consecutive top-10 at the event. Played in the final pairing during the final round with champion Scottie Scheffler and shot 73. Was T-10th at the Genesis Scottish Open, shooting 67 in the final round just before winning the British Open at St. Andrews. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-13th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He wasn't able to play in the BMW Championship, he had been dealing for months with on-and-off hip discomfort, and it flared up in the days before, forcing him to withdraw. Finished 20th at the Tour Championship. Nominated for PGA Tour Player of the Year, which was won by Scottie Scheffler.
2023 Notes: Won the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship, and the next week, was T-47th at the Handa Australian Open. Missed the cut at the PIF Saudi International and was T-34th at the Masters. Was T-9th at the PGA Championship and 4th at the U.S. Open. Shot 67 in the final round to finish four back of the winner, Wyndham Clark. Was T-33rd at the British Open.