The 150th British Open: A Historical Final Round

Cam Smith had a historic Sunday at St. Andrew’s and fired a record-low round of 8 under par 64 to win the 150th Open Championship at The Old Course. His 64 was the lowest Sunday round at the Open Championship and was highlighted with five straight birdies to start the final nine holes on Sunday and closing out the back nine with a sizzling 30 (-6 under par). Smith joined Jack Nicklaus as the only players to have ever won the Players Championship and the Open Championship in the same year. Jack accomplished that feat in 1978—a record that has stood for nearly 45 years. This was Cam Smith’s third victory of the year and now has catapulted him into the conversation around the Player of the Year title.

Early on in the 2022 season, it seemed that World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler had that title on lock. However, a mid-summer surge from Cam Smith has certainly changed that conversation!

With this win, Cam Smith has vaulted himself all the way into second in the FedEx Cup rankings and second in the Official World Golf Rankings as well. With the FedEx Cup playoffs quickly approaching, including the Tour Championship, it should be great fun watching the world's top two golfers duke it out for the season points crown and Player of the Year title!

Rory McIlroy & Cam Young: Close but No Cigar

Rookie Cameron Young played strong all week after taking the lead early in Thursday’s round with an -8 under par 64. He was in the mix all the way to the 72nd hole, where he drove the par 4 18th with a 3-wood and then made the eagle putt to finish at -19 for the tournament and in solo second.

Rory McIlroy was in the lead going into Sunday’s round after shooting a lights-out 66 on Saturday. He and Viktor Hovland had a very entertaining Saturday matchplay-style day, going back and forth, birdie for birdie, eventually both ending the day with 66s and both at 16 under and 4 ahead of Cam Smith and Cam Young going into the final round.

Unfortunately for McIlroy, he really couldn’t get his putter going Sunday. He played great and shot 2 under 70, but it was not enough to keep pace with Cam Smith as he scorched the back nine. Cam Smith had 29 putts on Sunday, while Rory, unfortunately, had 36 putts—he 2 putted every green with his only birdies coming on the par 5 5th that he reached in two shots and the par 4th, a green that he drove. It has now been eight full seasons since Rory has won a major (2014), but he finished in the top 10 of every major this season (Masters at second, PGA Championship at eighth, U.S. Open at fifth, and then Open Championship at third). It would appear that his game is getting back to world-beater status. I’m rooting for Rory when April rolls around next season and hopefully, he can close out the career Grand Slam by slipping on the Green Jacket!

What’s in Cam Smith’s Bag?

Cam Smith has been a long-time Titleist staffer and used their brand new Titleist TSR3 driver that was just released at the beginning of July to capture his first Major Championship title.

• Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 Degrees) — Fujikura Ventus Blue 6X Shaft
• 3 Fairway: Titleist TSR3 (15 degrees) — Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8X Shaft
• Utility Irons: Mizuno Pro FLi-HI 3-Utility (19 Degrees) and 4-Utility (21.5 Degrees) — KBS Tour 130 Custom Matte Black X-Stiff Shafts
• Irons: Titleist T100 5-9 Iron — KBS Tour 130 Custom Matte Black X-Stiff Shafts
• Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 — KBS Tour 130 Custom Matte Black X-Stiff Shafts
  • Pitching Wedge: 46 Degrees
  • Gap Wedge: 52 Degrees
  • Sand Wedge: 56 Degrees
  • Lob Wedge: 60 Degrees
• Putter: Scotty Cameron 009M Tour Prototype
• Ball: Titleist Pro V1X

A Look Ahead

We have the FedEx Cup playoffs quickly approaching and the President’s Cup starting a few weeks after the completion of the Tour Championship. With the LIV Tour in full swing and PGA Tour players defecting to the new Saudi-backed golf league, it should be an interesting President’s Cup this year! The PGA Tour has been suspending players that have left for LIV and they are no longer eligible to participate in PGA Tour-sanctioned events like the President’s Cup.

Rumor has it Cam Smith is contemplating an offer from LIV and may make the transition to the new tour since he is now guaranteed entry into all four majors for the next five years (through 2027). He no doubt would have been the International team’s strongest player as a representative of Australia at the President’s Cup. It should be interesting to see what develops between now and September!

2022 FedEx Cup Playoffs

• August 8-14: FedEx St. Jude Championship
  • TPC Southwind — Memphis, TN
• August 15-21: BMW Championship
  • Wilmington Country Club (South Course) — Wilmington, DE
• August 22-28: Tour Championship
  • East Lake Golf Club — Atlanta, GA

2022 President’s Cup

Check out the U.S. Team Standings and the International Team Standings here.

• September 19th - 25th
  • Quail Hollow Golf Club — Charlotte, NC

Stay tuned for additional coverage of all of these events, and of course, if you have any questions about the gear that Cam Smith used on this historic Sunday, don’t be afraid to reach out to me or any of our other awesome Golf Experts here at Curated.