Cameron Smith stuns with clutch eagle on final hole to save Open Championship

Cameron Smith has showed just how clutch he is with an insane eagle at Royal Liverpool to give himself a chance to defend his title.

Jason Day and Min Woo Lee

Aussie Cameron Smith has showed his class with an insane clutch play on the final hole at Royal Liverpool to keep his Open Championship defence hopes alive.

Smith needed a birdie to get inside the cut line at three-over when, from 232 yards, he hit a stunning approach to inside two feet, allowing him to tap in for an incredible eagle.

Watch over 100 hours of live coverage during the 2023 Open Championship on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

American Brian Harman stormed into a five-shot leadon Friday after a faultless 65 left him on 10-under par, while two Australians are keeping pace in fourth.

Home favourite Tommy Fleetwood leads the chase as he battled to an even-par round on Friday to remain in the hunt for his first major at five-under.

He’s followed by Sepp Straka one shot back, while Australia’s Min Woo Lee and Jason Day are both three-under, tied in fourth with Shubhankar Sharma.

Lee posted a three-under round, recovering from two bogeys in the first four holes with three birdies and an eagle. He’s now the only player to have been inside the top-10 after 36 hole at each of the past three men’s majors.

Min Woo Lee goes into the weekend T-4 after his second round 68.

He’s the ONLY player to be in the top 10 through 36 holes at each of the last 3 majors.

Let him cook 👨‍🍳 pic.twitter.com/8mL501oX3k

— Callaway Golf (@CallawayGolf) July 21, 2023

Min Woo Lee quickly becoming one of my favorite players to watch. I get the sense there’s a lot of people who feel the same way. Makes the game look easy but also fun. Really fun.

— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) July 21, 2023

Min Woo Lee is a big-game hunter. Can tell he loves the major stage, thrives on playing well in the most important events against the best players. Dude has star potential.

— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) July 21, 2023

Day had six birdies and two bogeys as he stormed into contention, chasing his first major since 2015.

Rory McIlroy is best-placed among the pre-tournament favourites at one under as world number one Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Cameron Smith needed miraculous shots at the 18th to make the cut.

Harman surged to the top of the leaderboard at the Royal Liverpool course thanks to long birdie putts at the second, third and fourth before his chip into the par-five fifth hit the flag to tee up a simple putt for a four.

A run of 12 consecutive pars followed before a spectacular eagle at the last. The world number 26 has never won a major but was sixth at last year’s British Open at St Andrews and was joint runner-up at the US Open in 2017.

“I’ve had a hot putter the last couple of days so try to ride it through the weekend,” said Harman.

“I felt kind of freed up on 18. I made probably my two best swings of the day and got up there to 12 to 15 feet for eagle. Just played a really nice hole.”

Barring a collapse over the weekend, the 36-year-old will take some catching, with the sport’s biggest stars failing to fire.

Min Woo Lee was cooking as he led the way for the Aussies. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

MCILROY BELIEVES

McIlroy believes he is still in with a chance of ending his nine-year wait to win a major at the scene of his only British Open victory, in 2014.

The Northern Irishman, benefiting from more forgiving bunkers, birdied the fifth to move to two under on the day after tournament organisers reacted to criticism from players that the sand traps were too tough during Thursday’s opening round at Hoylake.

Greenkeeping staff were instructed to build up the edges to allow more balls to roll back into the centre of the bunkers.

However, the world number two dropped two shots on the back nine before a birdie at the last.

“I might be nine back, but I don’t think there’s going to be a ton of players between me and the lead going into the weekend,” said McIlroy, who is currently tied for 11th.

“If I can get to three, four, five-under par tomorrow going into Sunday, I’ll have a really good chance.”

Scheffler has been a model of consistency on the PGA Tour all year, but he came perilously close to missing the cut for the first time in 21 tournaments, ending with a four-over-par round to be three over for the tournament.

Needing a birdie at the par-five last, the 2022 Masters champion got up and down from a difficult lie in the greenside bunker to make a four.

Masters champion Jon Rahm is also at two over after carding a round of 70.

Rory McIlroy is nine shots off the pace but still believes. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

CLIMATE PROTEST

The threat from the group of players now regularly plying their trade in the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series is fading after PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka double-bogeyed the 18th to slip to three over.

Earlier Friday, climate protestors from the Just Stop Oil group targeted the tournament, setting off a smoke flare and throwing orange powder onto the course.

American golfer Billy Horschel intervened to help remove one demonstrator at the 17th hole.

Police confirmed four people had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage and public nuisance.

British golf’s landmark tournament is the latest high-profile sporting event to be targeted in recent weeks following interruptions at Wimbledon and during the second Ashes cricket Test at Lord’s.

BRITISH OPEN OFFICIALS MOVE TO CHANGE BUNKERS AFTER COMPLAINTS

Elsewhere, British Open officials have changed the way the bunkers are raked at the Royal Liverpool course after complaints from players that they were overly “penal”.

Masters champion Jon Rahm described Royal Liverpool’s 82 bunkers as “proper penalty structures” after having to play backwards out of one during his opening 74 on Thursday, while Rory McIlroy needed two shots to escape a greenside trap on the 18th.

Four-time major winner McIlroy said: “When you hit it into these bunkers you’re sort of riding your luck at that point and hoping it’s not up against one of those revetted faces.” Two-time US PGA winner Justin Thomas had a nightmare on the final hole at Hoylake after finding a bunker, ending up with a quadruple-bogey nine.

In response, the R&A instructed greenkeeping staff to build up the edges of the bunkers to allow more balls to roll back into the centre.

“Yesterday afternoon the bunkers dried out more than we have seen in recent weeks and that led to more balls running straight up against the face than we would normally expect,” the R&A said in a statement.

“We have therefore raked all of the bunkers slightly differently to take the sand up one revet on the face of the bunkers.

“We routinely rake bunkers flat at most Open venues but decided this adjustment was appropriate in light of the drier conditions which arose yesterday.

“We will continue to monitor this closely for the remainder of the championship.” Even those players who managed to successfully escape from the bunkers on day one had expressed their concerns, with former champion Stewart Cink speaking out following a bogey-free 68.

“Eventually it’ll catch up with you,” the 2009 winner said. “The bottoms of them are so flat that if a ball comes in with any momentum, it’s just going right up to the lip and stop.

“There’s not a little upslope that helps you at all. They are very penal.”

Originally published as Cameron Smith stuns with clutch eagle on final hole to save Open Championship