British Open final round as it happened: Cameron Smith wins the Claret Jug

Well, what a morning it has been for not only Australian golf, but Australian sport in general. Cameron Smith has become the fifth male winner of The Open, golf’s oldest major, at the home of the sport, St Andrews.

The Queenslander started the day four shots behind Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland, but peeled off an incredible final round eight-under 64 - including six birdies on a back nine 30 - to win the Claret Jug by a shot from American Cameron Young (-19), who eagled the last hole. McIlroy was a stroke further behind in third.

Smith (-20) is the first Australian to win The Open since Greg Norman in 1993.

That’s all for us now. Keep tuned to the website for all the stories of Smith’s incredible win. Thanks for joining us throughout the morning and it’s sure to be a long night of celebrations for Smith and his team at St Andrews.

Cameron Smith has indicated he wants to be part of the Presidents Cup team to take on the United States in September.

He is the top-ranked International player and will be desperately hoping his side can arrest what has been a one-way concept for many, many years, including the last time it was played at Royal Melbourne in 2019.

But for now, there’s a long night of partying with the Claret Jug to come and let’s hope there’s a return home to Australia later this year for our national championship and the PGA to come. What a headline act that will be for the summer of golf.

While Cameron Smith will deservedly get the plaudits, spare a thought for Rory McIlroy.

He didn’t play badly in the final round, but he just didn’t sink any putts. After becoming the face of the anti-LIV Golf stance, it seemed everyone wanted him to win today.

But it wasn’t to be. Smith had that killer instinct when it was needed most and that proved the difference.

The way Cam Smith handled the Road Hole 17th in the final round brought back memories of his work on the 17th in the final round of his win at The Players Championship earlier in the year. That event is regarded as the game’s “Fifth major”. Now Smith has won of the four genuine ones.

It’s been so breathless the last couple of hours, we haven’t even had a chance to recap what has been a brilliant tournament for the Australians all round.

Notwithstanding Cameron Smith’s momentous win, Adam Scott, Lucas Herbert and Anthony Quayle, playing his first major, have all finished tied-15th at -10 for the tournament – 10 shots behind Smith.

Min Woo Lee (-9) had a neat four-under 68 on the final day to finish tied-21st while Jason Scrivener and Brad Kennedy (both -4) also ended up tied-53rd after making the cut.

But there’s only one Australian name which will be on the lips of the golfing world for a while.

Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros .... Cameron Smith. That’s the truncated version of the last 40 years of The Open at St Andrews.

Smith’s win in the milestone 150th edition may have denied sentimental favourite Rory McIlroy the title, but as we all know, sentimentality often amounts to nothing in professional sport.