Rory loses out to the Wizard of Oz and he knows this is one Major triumph that got away

Steven Beacom

Rory McIlroy walks over the Swilcan Bridge during his final round

Australia's Cameron Smith and his caddie Sam Pinfold with the Claret Jug

Some of Rory McIlroy’s young fans at St Andrews

Rory McIlroy walks over the Swilcan Bridge during his final round

Australia's Cameron Smith and his caddie Sam Pinfold with the Claret Jug

Some of Rory McIlroy’s young fans at St Andrews

Getty Images

Rory McIlroy walks over the Swilcan Bridge during his final round

July 17 2022 09:55 PM

Awesome Aussie Cameron Smith won the 150th Open much more than Rory McIlroy lost it, but this one is still going to hurt for Northern Ireland’s sporting superstar.

Destiny was calling, yet McIlroy had no answer to Smith’s fabulous final round of 64 that swept him to glory on a stunning Sunday at St Andrews.

McIlroy was solid, not dropping a shot. Smith was spectacular, gaining eight of them. Spectacular was triumphant.

On the back nine, the 28-year-old from Brisbane transformed into the Wizard of Oz, with his putter becoming a magic wand as he knocked in five birdies in a row and holed out for par on 17 with the pressure on.

‘I just didn’t get it done’: Rory McIlroy reacts to latest Major agony as Cameron Smith steals in for Open glory at St Andrews

Inspired by the historic surroundings, Smith went out and grabbed the Claret Jug by the handle as hard as he could. The subdued McIlroy had no such spark and ultimately ended up in third, with another Cameron - Young from the USA - finishing strong with a wonderful eagle on the last to be the runner-up.

It was a first Major for the man with the mullet having won ‘the fifth Major’, The Players Championship, earlier this year.

The fearless Smith merited the victory but it left the fans on the Old Course shell-shocked, with most feeling this was sure to be overnight joint leader McIlroy’s day.

As a young boy out hitting balls and rolling in putts, he imagined winning The Open at St Andrews.

Starting his final round he believed he would fulfil that long held dream. With his profile and status around the globe, with no disrespect to Smith, that would have been the dream result for golf too. The game wanted it, but there was no fairytale ending with this Holywood hero.

McIlroy has been admired since bursting on to the scene as a kid with all that natural talent and spring in his step, though the roars for Rors, passionate support and Ryder Cup type atmosphere around the links, like Seve enjoyed back in the day, showed he’s more popular than ever.

That’s not just because of his ability off the tee and on fairways and greens, it’s down to how he has responded in words and deeds relating to the controversial and shameless LIV Golf Series which is splitting apart the sport he adores.

He called it out from the start and wasn’t afraid to criticise fellow players for choosing to take part in the Saudi-backed rebel events rather than sticking with the PGA Tour or DP World Tour.

McIlroy has been seen as some sort of moral guardian and champion of golf in 2022. There was a sense that him being announced as the Champion Golfer of the Year at the historic venue where the game started would have been fitting.

At 33 he wouldn’t just have been the Open champion, he would have been the people’s champion.

The Manchester United fan savoured winning the tournament in Liverpool in 2014, but triumphing at the home of golf in the 150th Open was going to be even sweeter.

Try as he might, he couldn’t get it done. There were no bogeys on his card but only two birdies, leaving him with a 70 which he admitted afterwards was not going to be enough, with conditions perfect to shoot low numbers.

From McIlroy’s first hole on Thursday there felt like something special was in the air when he holed a 55-foot putt, going on to record a six-under 66. In round two he backed it up with a 68, staying in contention before another brilliant 66 on Saturday, highlighted by a stunning eagle from the bunker on the 10th.

McIlroy first came to the Northern Ireland public’s attention as a slip of a lad chipping balls into a washing machine on Gerry Kelly’s UTV chat show. Here he was chipping balls into the hole from the sand on the most classic golf course on the planet.

Entering the last 18, McIlroy and Norway’s Viktor Hovland were on 16-under, four shots ahead of Cameron times two.

Rory’s glory or to Viktor the spoils? Hovland, a burgeoning 24-year-old talent, never got going and soon fell behind.

McIlroy was steady, not making any errors, going two shots clear as he picked up birdies at five and 10, but where Majors are won and lost is on the back nine. Smith started his charge and it proved unstoppable.

By the time the Australian left the 14th with five birdies on the bounce he was on -19, one ahead of McIlroy.

On the 17th and 18th, Smith came up with glorious two putts to par and birdie respectively, displaying steel and skill of the highest order to reach 20-under. McIlroy could not show the same finishing a couple behind.

Young got closer, only one adrift, but it was the other Cameron who celebrated the championship.

Rather than McIlroy, Smith had the honour of joining icons like Sam Snead, Peter Thomson, Bobby Locke, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods in topping an Open leaderboard at St Andrews.

And with that, Rory’s wait for Major success goes on. He still has four, the last of which came eight years ago.

Golf Majors are the hardest thing to win in sport, and McIlroy has finished in the top-10 in all of them this year. He’ll know though this was one that got away.