A landmark championship at St Andrews culminated in a thrilling finish as Cameron Smith surged to victory in the 150th Open.
We look back on a memorable week at the home of golf.
After plenty of warm and dry weather in the lead-up to the championship, a firm and fast Old Course greeted the competitors on day one.
With little wind to speak of, scoring was predictably low, with those out earlier in the day enjoying particularly benign conditions.
Pre-championship favourite Rory McIlroy and Cameron Smith were among those to prosper, with respective scores of 66 and 67, but the early lead went to Cameron Young, the PGA Tour rookie who came close to glory at this year’s PGA Championship.
On his Open debut, Young flew out of the blocks with five birdies on his front nine and two more, at the 11th and 12th, to reach 7-under par. Another gain at the 18th completed a bogey-free 64, putting Young two clear of McIlroy and three clear of Smith.
The latter was joined on 5 under very late in the day by Robert Dinwiddie, a qualifier playing in the penultimate group, while amateur Barclay Brown was among eight players – including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland – to begin the week with a 4-under 68.
8 under: Cameron Young6 under: Rory McIlroy5 under: Cameron Smith, Robert Dinwiddie4 under: Barclay Brown (a), Viktor Hovland, Dustin Johnson, Scottie Scheffler, Talor Gooch, Lee Westwood, Brad Kennedy, Kurt Kitayama
To continue reading about the story of The 150th Open, click HERE.
The R&A