Moving day begins at St Andrews

On day one, Cameron Young had the honour of leading the historical 150th Open Championship at St Andrews in Scotland.  Within 24 hours another Cameron had the delight of heading the field leaving Young in second place.  Halfway through the tournament, the new number one is Cameron Smith who hails from Australia.  The 28-year old from Brisbane shot two opening rounds of 67 and 64 for an aggregate of 13-under par to leave the young American two strokes behind.  Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is in a tie for third spot on 10-under par.

 

The last time an Australian golfer won the Open was in 1993 when Greg Norman lifted the Claret Jug.  However, Smith is not the only Aussie in the running.  Adam Scott is also looming in the top-10.

 

Other stars of the day were Viktor Hovland.  The Norwegian golfer holed his second shot on the 15th for a wonderful eagle to get to 9-under par.  And then birdied the 343-yard final hole to card a 66 and finish in a tie for third spot with McIlroy.  The player from Northern Ireland made a super birdie on the 17th to get to 10-under par but alas had to settle for par down the last.

 

   

 

After 36 holes, the Open boasts six American players in the top 11.  The rest of the golfing talent comes from all around the world such as Australia, Northern Ireland, England and Norway.  Saturday will see some impressive golf as players make their move in the Open Championship.

 

Bye, bye Tiger and Morikawa

 

The cut was predicted at level par which meant farewell to 73 players.  Among those saying a sad bye, bye to St Andrews was Tiger Woods who leaves Scotland with some doubt as to whether he will be playing in a Major again.  The 15 times Major Champion had an emotional walk down the final hole.

 

Missing the cut by one tiny shot was the defending champion from America Collin Morikawa whose attempt lasted the whole round right down to the final hole.  Past Champions like Henrik Stenson (Sweden) and from South Africa Louis Oosthuizen and the ‘Big Easy’ Ernie Els, whose putt pulled up agonisingly short on the 18th, also waved farewell to St Andrews.

 

Who did make the cut?

 

So of the lucky 83 who made the weekend cut, we would like to give a special mention to the only Dutch golfer in the championship, Lars van Meijel.  He is playing in his first Major and is beaming at the prospect of being just one shot more than the 2021 Masters Champion Hideki Matsuyama and playing as good as the former Open Champion winner from Spain, Francesco Molinari.  Van Meijel just scraped the cut with a score of level par.

 

The 21-year old English amateur Barclay Brown is very pleased with his progress too.  After 36 holes he is in a share of 12th spot on 6-under par.

 

One of the stars of this season, Australian Cameron Smith, who has won five PGA titles including the 2022 Players Championship and was also runner-up in the 2020 Masters, must be delighted with his scoring at St Andrews.  In the next two days will he be crowned the Champion Golfer of the Year?

 

Watch this space for more Open Championship news over the next couple of days! 

 

 

Wendy Hoad

Editor

 

 

MAIN PHOTOGRAPH:  Australian Cameron Smith snatches the lead in the 150th Open Championship.  MINIS (l-r): Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa.