British Open: Defending champ Cameron Smith’s eagle on 18th saves him from the cut
Aussie defending champion Cameron Smith showed nerves of steel with an astonishing eagle to rescue a ‘pretty crappy’ round at the British Open at Royal Liverpool.
Cameron Smith showed nerves of steel on the 18th hole with an astonishing eagle to rescue a “pretty crappy” round and avoid the cut at the British Open at Royal Liverpool.
Smith, the defending champion, was looking like he would spend the weekend watching the rest of the event on television, sitting on four over after the 17th hole, in a highly frustrating day where his tee shot often found the bunker.
Then at the very moment it was required, under extraordinary pressure, Smith pulled out one of the shots of the day on the 18th hole.
Using a six iron on his approach shot, Smith struck the ball 215m to be just two metres from the hole for an easy putt, to finish the day on two under.
“I was aware that I had to make a birdie (to make the cut) and it was nice to hit a good drive down there,’’ Smith said.
When asked how he would have felt if he had not been able to final two rounds this weekend, he said: “Very mad.”
He added: “Especially the way I played; the last couple of days, for sure there were some swirly shots, but the scorecard is a long way off how it feels’’.
He said the weekend weather “is not so good’’, which could play into his hands if he can “grind it out”.
“To be 12 back with two rounds to go is a big ask but you never know.”
While Smith was battling the blustery Hoylake course, other Australians Jason Day and Min Woo Lee are poised for a serious tilt at the Claret Jug, both sitting on three under par in equal fourth spot, seven shots off the leader, American Brian Harman.
Another Australian, Adam Scott, also just made the cut on three-over.
Lee, from, Perth, was in fine touch, finishing three under par.
“I think I play good on pretty tough courses, and it’s just that par putt or that momentum shot, “he said. “I love doing that and just keep moving forward. On easier courses if you make a bogey you’re going two steps back, so it’s nice when there’s not too many birdies and you can just grind it out.”
Harman, the southern golfer from Georgia, who likes pig hunting, as well as culling deer and turkeys, had other birdies in his sights at Royal Liverpool, and made the most of the benign mid day conditions, shooting a 65 second round score.
In the press conference after his round, Harman was asked: “You talked after the Masters how disappointed you were and you went home and you killed a pig and a turkey. I take it the sheep and the cows are safe around here at the moment, are they?”
He responded: “Sheep don’t taste as good as the turkeys do I would imagine. I’ve been a hunter my entire life. I enjoy the strategy of it. Yeah, we eat a lot of wild meat at my house, so I enjoy butchering, and I do a lot of hunting.”
Lucas Herbert was five over for the day and missed the cut, as did Hadyn Barron (nine over) David Micheluzzi, (10 over), Connor McKinney (11 over) and Harrison Crowe (14 over).
Aussie stuns with hole-in-one at treacherous 17th
Sydneysider Travis Smyth, 28, also missed the cut on eight over, but his round was particularly memorable having landed a hole in one at the treacherous 17th hole, smacking a nine iron perfectly into the wind.
The Sydney golfer didn’t see the ball bounce once, and then plonk into the hole, dubbed Little Eye. All he heard was the tremendous roar of the crowd.
“It was really, really loud,’’ said Smyth, making his Open debut. “It was awesome. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have known it went in. You couldn’t see it. You couldn’t probably see half of the flagstick … even walking back to 18th tee people were yelling my name; walking down 18 people were yelling my name.
“Yeah, it was cool. I almost hit the same ball down 18, but with the out of bounds just there I thought I should change balls and leave that ball with a good memory.”
Smyth, who plays on the Asian tour, finished eight over and missed the cut, but leaves Royal Liverpool at Hoylake with a treasured memory.
Smyth said: “It was amazing. A bittersweet actually. I had a shock of the day before, made double bogey, and I was just really happy I hit a good shot because I was just so disappointed from the day before. Yeah, huge surprise that it went in the hole.”
Smyth said it was “a chippy nine-iron’’ and he thought halfway through the flight it look good.
He said he has had two hole-in ones before which were unintentional: one pushed into the hole and the other he pulled it so “today was kind of my first hole-in-one that I’ve actually attempted to get it close”.
Smyth was one of the first golfers who signed up to the rebel LIV golf tour, but before he was cut after three events – a result of the bigger names joining the lucrative series – he had made more than $1 million. He made the field at the Open through finishing third at the World City Championship in Hong Kong.
When asked what was better, the ace or the money, Smyth thought hard before saying, “the million” and adding: “It’s changed my life, obviously, for the better financially. Professional golf is very, very expensive. Most people don’t realise that.
“Since the LIV experience I’ve been able to do my thing much more comfortably, and I’ve been better for it.”
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