Cameron Smith 3rd after opening round 67 at St Andrews
Cameron Smith – hits his tee shot at the 2nd today – photo R&A via Getty
The 13 strong Australasian contingent have generally fared well on the opening day of the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, Cameron Smith leading the way after an opening round of 67 has him in a share of 3rd place and three shots off the lead of American, Cameron Young.
Smith was out in the morning wave of players on day one and put together a near flawless 5 under par round, his only real blemish coming when his tee shot at the par 3 11th missed the green left and a little long and he was unable to get up and down.
He had, though birdied, the 10th and then did so at the 12th on either side of the bogey to maintain the momentum he had built through his opening nine of 3 under 33. His only other birdie would come at the last when he drove the green and two putted from long range to walk from the green two from the lead of Young who would later birdie the last to move three clear.
Over and hour later, Rory McIlroy would also birdie the last to move into outright second place and one ahead of Smith but the Australian, who has shown a capacity to play the big events well in his still relatively young career, has started well.
This was Smith’s first exposure to St Andrews under Open Championship conditions although he did play well there as an amateur at the St Andrews Links event before turning professional.
“I think it was nice to get out there this morning,” said Smith referring to his early tee time. “It’s a little bit fresh this morning, but there wasn’t much wind around for the first three or four holes and just nice to get off to a good start. Couple of birdies in the first five there and really set the tone for the day.
“Hit lots of good lag putts today. It was probably some of the best lag putting I think I’ve ever done. My putt on the 2nd managed to go in from a fair distance. That was pretty decent. But had so many — seemed like I had so many 80, 90, 100-footers out there today and did a good job of getting them down in two.”
“Obviously an afternoon tee time tomorrow, I think the crowd might get a little bit louder,” added Smith when asked about the atmosphere of the opening day. “But plenty of Aussies in the crowd, which is nice to hear.
“And places like this just have a certain feel to them, and almost gives you goosebumps. Standing on the 1st tee at St Andrews in an Open is something that I’ve only dreamt of doing as a kid, and for it to all come real and to have the support I did out there today was pretty cool.”
Brad Kennedy is the next best of the Australasians at 4 under par 68 and tied for 5th. His was also an early morning round and he raced to 4under through six holes before bogeys at the 8th and 9th saw him turn in 34. The 48-year-old Queenslander would, though, birdie the 10th and 11th and although he dropped shots at the next two holes he got up and down from just short of the green at the last for one final birdie for an outstanding start.
Having missed the cut in his only other three appearances at the Open Championship, it was an encouraging start for Kennedy who has been in good form in 2022 in events he has played in Japan and Australia.
Min Woo Lee was out in the very first group of the day and when he double bogeyed his third hole after tangling with a gorse bush, things did not look good for the 23 year old.
Lee did, however, respond in style by playing the next 11 holes in 6 under including an eagle from long range at the 14th to get to 4 under for the tournament and at one stage during that stretch he actually led the event. He would, however, three putt from long range at the 17th but his 3 under par 69 has him in 13th place and five off the lead of Young’s lead.
“Yeah, my shot out of the gorse, my caddie was a bit hesitant on the shot, said Lee. “And I thought it was okay. And he was, like, the gorse is pretty thick. And I was like, I should be okay. And after I hit, I said, welcome to The British Open.
“No, it was a great recovery, great recovery. And the one thing I wasn’t, haven’t been good at is bouncing back from bad shots. So amazing 9-iron into the next hole and made a birdie there and kind of kicked off the round. It wasn’t nerves or anything, just a bad drive to make a double.”
Lee was philosophical about his chances this week and is doing his best to keep things in perspective despite his encouraging start.
“It’s a long way to go. But actually making a cut, I’ll be happy with actually making a cut. I haven’t made many cuts this year. And that’s not the mentality. But I am just trying to find something right now. It’s been a bit of a struggle this year. So I’m trying.”
Lucas Herbert was another to being well with an outward nine of 34 but could not build on that start and played the back nine in even par for a round of 70 and at 2 under he is tied for 27th.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox recorded three birdies and two bogeys for his round of 1 under 71 to be tied for 34th.
Of the other Australasians in the field, Adam Scott and Jason Scrivener are at even par 72, Ben Campbell, Anthony Quayle and Matt Griffin 74, an out of form, Marc Leishman, had 76, Dimi Papadatos 77 and Jed Morgan 79.
Similar conditions tomorrow should see a cut score around even par but they are all chasing the two shot leader Cameron Young who is playing in his first Open Championship.
Young is in his first season on the PGA Tour and is already making a statement having finished runner-up twice and third on three occasions and risen to 32 in the world.
“I think we worked our way around the golf course really well,” said Young. “I don’t think that I played a perfect round of golf. I think it just kind of — I scored really well. And I think we thought our way around kind of the way you have to out there.”
Surprisingly, especially given his great rookie season to date, Young is working with a new caddie and was asked the reason behind the decision to change.
“Quite a few things. I kind of, as much as I’ve had a solid year, there’s been a couple things missing, I think. I haven’t won anything, and that was just something that could change to kind of exhaust all my options to see what I could do better. That was just something that we as a team decided was probably best for my golf.
“He (Chad) brings a lot of experience to the table. I know he’s been working on the PGA TOUR for about 20-ish years. He’s worked for Vijay Singh, Nick Watney when he was No. 2 in the world.
“So I think being around people like that, he has — I mean, there’s no replacement for being around good golf and major championship golf for 20 years. There’s just a level of knowledge that is hard to find elsewhere. There’s a bunch of veteran guys out here like that. And I think that knowledge is kind of irreplaceable.”
Cameron Young – photo R&A via Getty Images
