ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Cameron Young had a front-row seat to one of the best final rounds played in British Open history on Sunday, as Australian Cameron Smith shot an 8-under 64 to win his first major championship.
The 25-year-old Young may have been an observer but was not a spectator, shooting a 7-under 65 himself at the Old Course.
But Young’s best could not match Smith’s run of five consecutive birdies starting at the beginning of the back nine, which helped the Aussie seal the deal over overnight leaders Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland.
Cameron Young shot a remarkable 65 on Sunday at St. Andrews, but could only watch as Cameron Smith went one better.
Michael Madrid/USA Today
“It probably hurts a little worse to come up one shot short,” Young said in a runner-up press conference at the same time Smith was being awarded the claret jug on the 18th green. “If you lose by eight you don’t really care. But I played well today. And I would have signed up for 65 this morning. And to watch Cameron shoot what he did, it was pretty amazing.”
Young knows disappointment, he was in the hunt at the PGA Championship, eventually finishing T3 with the third-round leader Mito Pereira of Chile.
After his even-par 71 that day that kept him out of the playoff, Young honestly assessed what went wrong on that Sunday at Southern Hills.
“I think I’ve made so many mistakes, even in tournaments that I’ve been close to winning,” Young said Sunday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “I think it proves to me that not only can I win, but I can win by a lot. I just have to wait for that to come together.”
At the PGA, Young stuck to his plan and process, but in hindsight didn’t let it come to him and at times chased it, losing patience and causing mistakes.
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On Sunday, Young took what he learned from the PGA and applied it, sticking to the plan and process, but not chasing, staying patient throughout the round, even when he watched Smith overtake him and start to run away.
Young also made one other crucial change from the PGA — he changed caddies, hiring veteran Chad Reynolds, who had worked for Vijay Singh, Keegan Bradley and Nick Watney.
“Watching him make a million birdies in a row is in one sense good because it pushes you, and in another sense it’s hard to watch because you see him making putts, knowing that he’s kind of beating you,” Young said of Smith’s eight-birdie round. “I think I was a little bit more patient today and I obviously was rewarded on 18, but just came up a little bit short.”
The reward on 18 was a drive that found the putting surface on the 18th green and converting a 15-footer for eagle to temporarily tie the championship lead with Smith, who would calmly make a two-footer for birdie to win by one.
Up to the last shot, Young never gave up, even with little hope of forcing a playoff.
“I kind of was just trying to get it there and trying to give myself some kind of look, because obviously you never know,” Young said. “But just based on how he was playing and kind of how that hole sets up, I think there’s a very, very good chance that 2 wasn’t going to be enough.”
Young leaves St. Andrews with his fourth runner-up finish this season on the PGA Tour and sixth top 3.
And unlike Southern Hills, where Young may question his play down the stretch, on Sunday he had nothing to question. He just continued to put himself in the mix again, and for the second time in a major.
“The more I put myself there, I think I said at the PGA ‘one of these times I’ll shoot 5 under on the back and that will be enough,’” Young said. “And today I did. And it wasn’t. So, I guess one of these times I’ll shoot 6 on the back on Sunday and that will be enough.”
> Cameron Smith Rolls to a Sunday 64, Stealing the British Open From the Fan Favorite
> What Happened to Rory McIlroy on Sunday at the British Open? Golf Happened
> Final Payouts: Cam Smith Banks $2.5 Million From Record-Breaking Prize Pool
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