Cameron Smith and Min Woo Lee record top-five finishes at US Open
Only two Australians made the cut at the US Open and both stormed home on Sunday for top-5 finishes behind a first-time major winner.
Cameron Smith declared he’s a “better player” than when he won the British Open in 2022 after putting his US Open demons to bed by finishing fourth in Los Angeles as fellow Aussie Min Woo Lee pocketed $1M in his best major finish.
Smith and Lee were the only two Australians to make the cut and both fired on Sunday, carding closing three-under rounds of 67 to finish in the top six as Wyndham Clark held off a star-studded chasing pack to record his first major win.
Having struggled in six US Opens since his breakthrough tie for fourth in 2015, which included missing the past two cuts, Smith seized control of a driver that can be wayward to claim outright fourth, plus $1.4m.
It goes with his top-10 finish at the PGA Championship last month and Smith said he would soon head to Europe, first for a LIV event in Spain and then the Open at Royal Liverpool, brimming with confidence.
“I feel like the game has been trending in the right direction. This is kind of a big tick of the box, I think,” said Smith, who finished four shots behind Clark.
“Obviously, a world-class field, world-class venue, and it got really tough on the weekend as well, so the game is feeling really good and just probably a little bit of confidence.
“I think the driver feels better than what it did last year, and the irons and the short game, I think they‘re right there. I think I‘m a better player than what I was last year.”
Clark, ranked 32 in the world, made a stone-cold, final-hole par to secure a one-shot win, relegating four-time major champion Rory McIlroy to a runner-up finish, with world No.1 Scottie Scheffler two shots back in third.
If not for a bogey-filled Saturday in Los Angeles, Lee could have had a real shot at joining his sister, Minjee, as a US Open winner.
But while an eight-shot final round gap was too hard to make up, the boom Aussie young gun refocused after his third-round 74 with a bogey-free final round to finish in a tie for fifth, his best major finish, and Lee left Los Angeles Country Club just over $1m richer.
“It‘s amazing. Again, I don’t get too many top results that often, as much as the top players, so it‘s really nice to do it at a major and do it at a US Open,” Lee said.
“Although people think this course wasn’t that tough, I think it was pretty tough. I played my arse off for the last four day, and I’m only 5-under. The winners are slowly coming back and are around 10-under.
“They definitely tricked it up on the weekend, and I’m happy to get it done and happy with the way I performed today.
“Lots of grit on that last round, but lots of good stuff, too. Played really good, and I’m really happy.”
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