Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland shared the lead of The Open going into the final day as the pair look to battle it out for the title.

Along with the famous Claret Jug, the American took home £1.15 million. Martin Slumbers, the Chief Executive of the R&A, said: “There have been significant changes in prize money over the last year. Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland shared the lead of The Open going into the final day as the pair look to battle it out for the title.

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts on the 17th green on day three of The 150th Open at St Andrews Old Course on July 16 2022. Image: Andrew Redington/Getty ...

Young, who shot a first-round 64 to lead his first British Open, also lacked inspiration in a grinding 71. McIlroy dropped a shot at the notorious 17th Road Hole, his only bogey of the day, and the Ryder Cup team mates both birdied the last to finish on 16-under-par before embracing warmly as the packed galleries gave them a rousing ovation. And I feel like my patience was rewarded around the turn with a couple of birdies and that hole-out on 10.

Keep up with the latest from St. Andrews in Yahoo Sports' British Open tracker.

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McIlroy lifted the Claret Jug in 2014 and won the US PGA Championship a month later, having made his major breakthrough at the US Open in 2011, but a barren ...

His back nine could never live up to what went before but three birdies and two bogeys saw him catapult himself up the leaderboard from joint-last to tied 13th at the close Rory McIlroy will change that with a win on Sunday. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. His outward total of 30 was two short of the record lowest score for an Open front nine – set by Denis Durnian at Birkdale in 1983 – and one off Tony Jacklin’s St Andrews front-nine Open best from 1970. “I’ve got myself in a great position after three days. Round of the day

Rory McIlroy, in search of his first major since 2014, is tied for the lead with Norway's Viktor Hovland entering Sunday's final round at St. Andrews.

Brian Harman, Kevin Kisner, Dean Burmester, Abraham Ancer, Sadom Kaewkanjana and Xander Schauffele are all at 11 under. Cameron Smith, who led heading into Saturday’s third round, has two birdies on the front to pull within three shots of the lead. First-round leader Cameron Young is also three back, while 2013 champion Adam Scott, 2017 champ Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Tommy Fleetwood and Si Woo Kim are five back.

Tiger Woods failed to make the cut on Friday and broke down in tears as he waved farewell to the Scottish crowd for what could be the final time of his career.

14:40 Cameron Young (US), Cameron Smith (Aus) “The support that I’ve gotten this week has been absolutely incredible,” McIlroy said. Reflecting on day three, he added: "That was a lot of fun. "It's about going out there and do the same thing today," he said. “I just have to do my thing. That leaves him -11 for the weekend.

Celli won the European Amateur Championship in Spain in June. Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia are previous winners of that tournament. McIlroy also won the ...

The R&A has harshly criticized the Saudi-funded rival league and suggested changes to the criteria. He missed the cut in 2018 and 2019 but finished in a tie for 59th last year at Royal St. George’s. McIlroy and Hovland have not yet started their final rounds. ___ ___ Celli started the day at 4 under and bogeyed two of his first three holes. ___ He made another bogey at the next hole and was eight shots behind. ___ His last one was the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla. McIlroy made only one birdie and missed a few good chances on the front nine. ___

Rory McIlroy was firmly on course to lift the Claret Jug for the second time as the 150th Open Championship headed for a tense climax.

Since then he started with a 65 in the US PGA and a 67 in the US Open, but was all too aware of failing to turn those into overdue wins, a third round of 74 doing the damage at Southern Hills and a 73 at the same stage at Brookline proving equally costly. It continued a welcome trend of good starts for the Northern Irishman, whose opening 73 in April’s Masters meant he had been a combined 35 over par in the first round of majors since his last victory in the 2014 US PGA. The 33-year-old admitted this week therefore felt like the title defence he never had and enjoyed an ideal start with an opening 66, the same score he shot to begin his wire-to-wire victory at Hoylake.

The third round of The Open Championship has just ended (prize money of 14 million dollars), known more simply as the British Open.

The Turin player scores a superb -6 (seven birdies, one bogey) settling in 18th position with a score of -6. On the par 72 course of the Old Course in St. Andrews (Fife, Scotland), South Korean Si Woo Kim and American Scottie Scheffler are in fifth position with -11. For Hovland and McIlroy there are four shots of the margin on the most immediate rivals.

British Open 2022 live updates: Our editors at the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews bring you the latest news and analysis from the final round.

At the par-5 fifth, he was in a patch of rough green side, and he couldn't get his chip to stop close to the hole. That's the first bogey of the day for him and the first bogey in his pairing. That'd be a great way to salvage an otherwise disappointing week for the winner of the Genesis Scottish Open and the Travelers in his past two starts. We saw Tiger do the same on Day 1 ... and we have a feeling Perez won't be the only one to rinse his first approach. Among the group at eight under and tied for 12th is Tony Finau, who just made birdie at 18 to shoot a six-under 66. Wow, Trey is DIALED into some deep stats early on Sunday. It's tough not to be dialed for the final round of The Open. Xander remains at 8-under, which is tied for 12th currently. Abraham Ancer and Sadom Kaewkanjana each make birdie at the last to post 65s, putting them in the clubhouse at 11 under. But he just missed a 10 footer for birdie on the easy par-4 ninth holes and he's just put the finishing touches on nine straight two putts, a two putt on the par-5 fifth hole resulting in his lone birdie so far. The Cams Smith and Young both birdied the par-5 fifth hole and are within two shots of the lead. He's still one-shot behind Cam Smith, but if there's a consolation of sorts, it's that Smith's birdie streak ends at 5 after he missed the fairway on 15 and has to settle for a rare two-putt. That makes FIVE straight birdies for Smith, but Rory McIlroy hit a promising drive on the par 5, so he doesn't appear to be withering away just yet. The hype and anticipation in the leadup to the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews has somehow been followed up by a thrilling week.

Meghan Markle met golfer Rory McIlroy in 2014 at the height of the Ice Bucket Challenge craze according to biographer Tom Bowman's new book on the Duke and ...

"This book is explosive. Sign up to our newsletter here. ‘I was enjoying myself’.” ‘I wasn’t quite on my game,’ he confessed. The book also contains accounts from “insiders who have never spoken before” and promises to expose the intricate web surrounding the Sussexes and their relationship with the Royal Family. "After the video was posted, the two went to the Fitzpatrick hotel for a drink.

Read about how much money Rory McIlroy has earned as a professional golfer and where he ranks in PGA Tour history.

McIlroy is one of the richest golfers of all time if you add up his career earnings, sponsorships, and endorsements. McIlroy could retire tomorrow and still have one of the most impressive resumes in professional golf history. When it’s all said and done, Rory McIlroy will go down as one of the greatest golfers to ever live.

Rory McIlroy looks to be back in form with the way he has performed at the Masters and the Open Championship. The Northern Irish star has been playing ...

Moreover, the Saudi-backed LIV Golf is a relevant topic right now that encourages even more money to be invested in golf. Golf has long been a lucrative sport, and this trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Whether it’s his endorsement deals or his earnings on the golf course, McIlroy enjoys a wealthy lifestyle.

With a Sunday 64 on the Old Course at St. Andrews, Australia's Cameron Smith won the 150th British Open for his first major title.

The only mistake he made was a poor approach to the 17th green, the Road Hole. You can’t miss it left there, and Smith did – leaving himself virtually no shot. His birdie at the 11th cut the lead to one before McIlroy followed with his birdie at the 10th. He had made five straight and gone a shot ahead of McIlroy. Smith then made birdies at the 12th, 13th and 14th holes – where he two-putted from 80 feet. And I'm going to try to make a dream come true tomorrow.’’ “The ovations coming on the greens, with the big grandstands.

Rory McIlroy and Cam Smith staged a furious battle down the stretch at St. Andrews to close out a remarkable British Open.

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Cameron Smith came through a thrilling final-round tussle with Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young to claim a maiden major title with a dramatic one-shot victory ...

Smith added another from 20 feet at the 13th to pull level with McIlroy, who continued his run of pars, while Young birdied the same par four and Hovland nudged him from close range at the 12th to lift the pair back to within two of the lead. McIlroy had squandered a five-foot birdie chance at the third but moved ahead when Hovland made a three-putt bogey from 70 feet at the next, with the Northern Irishman making a two-putt birdie at the par-five fifth to double his advantage. Young responded to a close-range bogey at the first by making back-to-back birdies from the third to move to 13 under alongside Smith, who had birdied the second, as the final pairing of McIlroy and Hovland opened with three consecutive pars.

Australia's Cameron Smith claimed his first major title on Sunday after a stunning final round of 64 saw him win the 150th British Open at St Andrews by a ...

Just before that he showed nerves of steel to save par at the 17th, the legendary Road Hole, but he needed that birdie at the final hole as his playing partner Young produced an eagle to finish with a 65 and end on 19-under. Smith began the day four shots off the lead but his eight-under-par final round lifted him to 20-under for the championship and allowed him to finish a shot clear of Cameron Young of the United States, with a frustrated Rory McIlroy another shot back in third. St Andrews — Australia's Cameron Smith claimed his first major title on Sunday after a stunning final round of 64 saw him win the 150th British Open at St Andrews by a one-stroke margin.

Cameron Smith carded a quite remarkable eight-under-par 64 to win his first major title at The Open, seeing off world No. 2 and overnight leader Rory ...

Aside from the McIlroy-Smith battle, the latter's playing partner Cameron Young went about his business quietly on day four, before rolling in a remarkable eagle putt at 18, to leave him at 19-under for the tournament - one behind the leader. As the pressure mounted the birdie putts waved by, and the roaring crowds that had supported the Northern Irishman all day began to get a little quieter. A wayward approach at 17 left Smith hidden behind the green-side bunker and short-sided of the pin. It was a steady start from McIlroy, as he parred the first four holes before finally picking up his first birdie of the day at the par five fifth. Following his birdie at five, another four pars followed ahead of the turn, however this seemed more than enough for McIlroy, with neither of his leaderboard rivals able to really land a punch on the heavily supported favourite. After playing his opening nine holes in two-under, the Players’ Championship winner ignited a fuse at the turn.

Even someone watching golf for the first time in their life on Sunday could have summed up why Rory McIlroy didn't win the 150th British Open.

In fact, McIlroy's final two-putt par on 18 left him in solo third behind Cameron Young, who eagled the hole moments before. And not literally, because, he obviously converted a lot of tap-ins—18 of them, in fact. Maybe during another year, but not one with a record-tying score of 20 under.

Cameron Smith stuns St Andrews by snatching the 150th Open by one stroke from Cameron Young, as overnight leader Rory McIlroy finishes third.

"It's unreal to look at the names on this trophy and then see mine. The Claret Jug is Smith's because he had a magnificent day. "I didn't feel like I did many things wrong, but the putter went cold on me throughout the round," said the 33-year-old, who had 36 putts in his 70 shots.

Rory McIlroy was left to rue another missed opportunity to end his long major drought after squandering a two-shot advantage during his final round at The ...

"I want to finish the season off well. I want to finish the season off right. Again, it's one of the best seasons I've had in a long time. "I've got a bit of time to rest and recover and try to take the positives, learn from the negatives, and move on," McIlroy added. "I'll rue a few missed sort of putts that slid by, but it's been a good week overall," McIlroy added. "It's just one of those days where I played a really controlled round of golf.

Rory McIlroy had a share of the lead heading into Sunday's final round of the 150th Open Championship and just just about every fan on the legendary grounds ...

McIlroy ended up finishing two strokes behind in third place after trying to hole out his second shot on 18, which would have forced a playoff. Rory McIlroy had a share of the lead heading into Sunday’s final round of the 150th Open Championship and just just about every fan on the legendary grounds of St. Andrews rooting for him to win his first major in eight years. Cam Smith, however, didn’t care about any of that as he stormed back with six birdies on the back 9 and won his first major in stunning fashion.

Cameron Smith produced a sensational final-round 64 at St Andrews to overtake the overnight leader Rory McIlroy and claim the Open Championship.

With Greg Norman fronting the Saudi Arabian-backed operation, which McIlroy sits in such stark opposition to, there is a joke somewhere about Australians causing grief to the Northern Irishman. Now just may not be the time to tell it. With McIlroy and Viktor Hovland in the final group, it was the Norwegian who blinked first. It’s the way it is.” “If you lose by eight you don’t really care.” The 25-year-old’s curious major year has seen two missed cuts, a tied third and a second. Smith, who won the Players Championship in May, is enjoying the time of his life. The lead was now shared. McIlroy needed to make short work of the par five 14th but could not after failing to reach the green in two. He played with a day-four fearlessness that renders him the worthy champion of such a landmark event. Smith’s 19 under played McIlroy’s 18 under as the former birdied the 14th. Smith’s 20 under par saw off Young by one and a rueful but magnanimous McIlroy by two. The crowd offered an impromptu roar in vain hope of sporting fairytale. It is difficult to state McIlroy did much wrong during round four, save perhaps not capitalise appropriately on opportunity.

Cameron Smith stole the claret jug from Rory McIlroy's grasp, carding six birdies Sunday at St. Andrews and capping a 64-64 weekend to win the 150th Open ...

"I was expecting I was going to hang in there for a little bit longer. Yeah, just really proud of how I kind of knuckled down today and managed to get it done." What it means: Coming into this 150th Open, McIlroy spoke of the significance of winning a claret jug at St. Andrews’ prized Old Course. He called the achievement the “holy grail” of professional golf, so though McIlroy already possessed one Open title, in 2014 at Royal Liverpool, he wanted this one badly. Smith added a birdie at the last with a closing 8-under 64, but he actually won this championship a hole earlier, at the par-4 Road Hole, where he piped a drive down the fairway only to smother one left and well short of the green. If I had made the birdies there from good positions, it probably would have been a different story." Yeah, managed to get away with a 4 there." "I kind of had to draw a 9-iron in there. It's one that I feel like I let slip away, but there will be other opportunities." Yeah, just stuck to what I was doing. No bunkers, no three-putts, take care of the drivable par 4s and take care of the par 5s. "It's just one of those days where I played a really controlled round of golf. And for good measure, he didn’t miss a green in regulation.

The four-time major winner, eight years into trying for the fifth, hit every green in the final round at St. Andrews. It just turned out that Cameron Smith ...

As he said, “It's one of the best seasons I've had in a long time.” As Hovland said: “He's come awfully close and played really well this year. The crowd showered McIlroy with affection all week – not just because of his previous achievements or how he played, but because of the stands he has taken. He had to make a 33-yard chip through the Valley of Sin to force a playoff. This week, McIlroy came as close as a player could to winning a major without actually winning the major. McIlroy had a terrific year at the majors: second at the Masters, eighth at the PGA, tied for fifth at the U.S. Open, and third here. He was patient and poised – and ultimately, he was just a victim of Cam Smith’s excellence, like everybody else. If he had needed birdie on 18, he probably would have made one and shot a final-round 69. He needed to make a putt or two, and he needed Smith to not shoot a closing 64 like he did. If he had made one mid-range putt earlier in the round, he probably would have forced a playoff. That was part of a pattern: He has often shown up, played himself out of contention early, and then played freely with the pressure off and made a backdoor top 10. He took the lead Saturday night, and he said, “my hotel room is directly opposite the big yellow board on 18 there, right of the 1st. If he made a significant mistake, it was tactical: “There's a lot of putts today where I couldn't just trust myself to start it inside the hole.

Australian rises to the occasion to write his own chapter at the 150th playing of The Open.

McIlroy drove the green at the par-4 10th and two-putted for his second birdie to get to 18 under before Smith's charge began. After two birdies on the front nine on Sunday, Smith made a push after the turn with five straight at Nos 10-14 to pass McIlroy and touch 19 under. Brian Harman (66) and Dustin Johnson (69) finished at 13 under, tied for sixth. Cameron Smith rose to the occasion and wrote his own chapter at the Old Course. On Sunday, Hovland didn't make a birdie until No 12 and posted a 2-over 74. Cameron Young, his playing partner, eagled the 18th hole to place second, with McIlroy finishing third two shots behind.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Rory McIlroy let himself dream. He couldn't help it.

“I was always starting it on the edge or just outside thinking it was going to move. While Smith was in the midst of his birdie streak, McIlroy couldn’t capitalize on two of St. Andrews’ drivable par-4s, Nos. 9 and 12, and parred the par-5 14th when a birdie would have pulled him even with Smith. McIlroy missed long birdie putts on 15 and 16, as well, and a 20-footer on the difficult 17th after Smith had two-putted from behind the Road Bunker. Smith’s birdie on the final hole meant McIlroy needed to make eagle on 18. A round on the historic grounds elicits a variety of emotions. This the first time in his career that McIlroy has finished in the top 10 in all four majors. He drove it well and didn’t make a bogey, but also couldn’t hit his approach shots close enough or take advantage of the Old Course’s drivable par-4s. He spoke this week about the trust he has in his game, and the freedom it has produced. “I just couldn't find the shots or the putts to do that.” His 70 left him in third place, two strokes behind winner Cameron Smith. Smith birdied the first five holes of the back nine and closed with 30 en route to a Sunday 64. A win would have tied Ballesteros with five major triumphs and leave him one short of Faldo’s record for most majors by a European player since World War I. McIlroy is the player in today’s game who gives the most consideration to context. His legacy is his priority at this point in his career, and only a victory at Augusta National would do more for it. But each time he peered out his hotel-room window, he allowed himself to imagine what could have been the most important victory of his career. The enormous yellow scoreboard that stood stories above St. Andrews’ final hole stared back at him whenever he looked out the window of his hotel room.

A realistic Rory McIlroy, who finished two shots behind Australia's Cameron Smith at The Open on Sunday, appeared ready to turn the page after the ...

"I've just got to keep putting myself in position, keep putting myself in there," McIlroy said. I want to finish the season off right. Despite the disappointments in majors, McIlroy has played some of the best golf of his career this season. I want to finish the season off well. But I just have to dust myself off and come again and keep working hard and keep believing." McIlroy will have to wait nine more months for his next chance, at the Masters in April. He finished a career-best solo second at Augusta National this past spring. "I was hitting good putts," McIlroy said. "At the start of the day, it was at the top, but at the start of tomorrow, it won't be. McIlroy didn't play poorly; he just didn't play well enough to win the Claret Jug. He hit 18 of 18 fairways. Jason Day was the other in 2015. He didn't let this one slip away as much as others in the past. I'm not a robot," McIlroy said.

Cameron Smith got hot, Rory McIlroy's putter got cold and St. Andrews played easy. A look at what mattered most at the 150th playing of The Open.

Smith, 28, is the sixth straight winner of a major by a player who is in his 20s. The ball was kind of staying on the ground. For much of the week, with so much attention on McIlroy and Woods, you might have barely noticed that PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young was in contention. Morikawa won the 2020 PGA Championship at Harding Park and the 2021 Open at Royal St. George's. "But at the end of the day, he keeps playing the way he's doing, he's going to get one pretty soon, I think at least. It was the ninth time he has finished in the top five at a major since last winning one. McIlroy finished in the top 10 in each of the four majors this season. Smith seemed to arrive at the Players in March, when he won $3.6 million, the richest purse for a winner in PGA Tour history. Playing one group behind Smith, McIlroy made a birdie on the par-4 10th to move to 18-under. From 75 feet away, he putted to 2 feet and made his eighth birdie of the round. Then on the par-5 14th, Smith nearly made an 87-foot eagle putt and tapped in for birdie and a 1-shot lead. PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young eagled the 18th hole to finish solo second, 1 shot behind Smith. McIlroy, who was trying to win his fifth major, finished a disappointing third at 18-under.

The 150th playing of The Open Championship called for a final round worthy of the annals of history. Cameron Smith rose to the occasion and wrote his own ...

McIlroy drove the green at the par-4 10th and two-putted for his second birdie to get to 18 under before Smith’s charge began. “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. Young posted five birdies and two bogeys before his electric eagle at the last. “I’ll have other chances to win the Open Championship and other chances to win majors. Smith made two birdies on the front nine before rattling off five straight at Nos. 10-14 to pass McIlroy and touch 19 under. Cameron Smith rose to the occasion and wrote his own chapter at the Old Course.

Rory McIlroy said he envisioned what it would feel like to win an Open Championship at the Old Course. This isn't the ending he expected.

After making seven straight pars, he chipped it into the slope on 18 and it released well past the hole. After Smith birdied the short 18th — which was no surprise — McIlroy needed an eagle to force a playoff. Smith elected to putt around the bunker and left himself 10 feet to save par and keep his lead, and he drained it. McIlroy was tied with Hovland through 54 holes, and it was fitting that he was in the pole position. McIlroy was one under on the front and made the turn leading by three, but Smith, playing in the pairing ahead, opened his back nine with birdies on 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, with the fifth of those giving him the outright lead. Fans without tickets crammed against the fence on The Links, hoping to get close enough to get a peek of the scene. The fans who weren’t following him were waiting to see him down the stretch, standing in long lines to get into the 1st hole grandstands to secure a view of the 18th green. Two days earlier, McIlroy had shared a fairway with and tipped his cap to Woods, who was perhaps playing in his final Open at St. Andrews, and it seemed as if the stage was now his. He hasn’t won a major for nearly eight years; he’s tried lots of things to deal with the nerves, the thoughts, the overanalyzing. One of the top hotels in town, it overlooks the 18th hole at the Old Course. There’s a balcony out back, and earlier this week McIlroy pointed out where his family was staying to Tiger Woods. They waved to Poppy, McIlroy’s 1-year-old daughter. He entered the day tied with Viktor Hovland and four clear of anyone else. From his room at the Rusacks, McIlroy said he had a view of the Open Championship leaderboard on the far side of the 1st fairway.

After a third-place finish at the British Open, McIlroy is still stuck searching for that elusive fifth major championship.

All of that is clearly of little solace to McIlroy. It said Sunday night — and it will say for eternity — that Smith won the 150th Open because his putter was otherworldly and McIlroy’s was ordinary. Tiger Woods went 11 years between majors 14 and 15 — but he was 43 for the most recent. Writing about McIlroy so often involves writing about the state of his sport, so a note to those players who have departed for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf: How will you stay sharp between now and the next major, which is the Masters eight months hence? For the LIV Golf guys — whose highest finishers at the Open were Dustin Johnson, who tied for sixth and was never a threat Sunday, and Bryson DeChambeau, whose final-round 66 lifted him to a tie for eighth — there’s … what, exactly? But he was all but a different person back then, and his next major was the ultimate bounce-back — a romp in the U.S. Open at Congressional, the week that has provided all the promise every time he tees it up. Here’s the reality, so troubling, so static: In the summer of 2014, McIlroy was a carefree 25-year-old raking in the British Open and the PGA Championship to run his total to four majors — and counting. So many of those who departed from the PGA Tour to take the grubby Saudi money offered the feeble and false reasoning that LIV Golf would allow for more freedom in their scheduling. For a player who is often defined either by a strut that would make a peacock seem bashful or a slump that would make Eeyore seem buoyant, for so much of the weekend, McIlroy was just … playing. That was true when he hit the shot that made you think, “Maybe this is finally his week,” a hole-out from a bunker on No. 10 for a third-round eagle Saturday. Yes, he pumped his fist. In the summer of 2022, he is the 33-year-old voice of his sport, a star on both sides of the Atlantic. Total majors: Four. Sure, he blew a four-shot lead in the final round of the 2011 Masters, memorably shooting an 80 on a day characterized by a trip to the cabins to the left of the 10th fairway. He played the final round of the 150th British Open without a bogey.

The galleries had flocked to the Fife coast to witness Rory McIlroy's second British Open title, eight years after his first, but instead saw the Northern ...

"I'll have other chances to win the Open Championship and other chances to win majors. It's one that I feel like I let slip away, but there will be other opportunities. Since then he has been the nearly man. In eight Masters appearances since he has six top-10s and finished runner-up this year. If I had made the birdies there from good positions, it probably would have been a different story. "I played a really controlled round of golf.

Rory McIlroy built a two-stroke lead with nine holes to go at St. Andrews but couldn't hold off the charge of British Open winner Cameron Smith.

At the start of the day, it was at the top, but at the start of tomorrow, it won't be." Of course, you think about it, and you envision it, and you want to envision it," he said. The end result is a failure and like Vesuvius he has to wait until April to begin the quest of pushing the ball up the mountain again. But despondent is what he looked like as he hid his face in his wife's embrace. "I'm playing some of the best golf I've played in a long time. The World No. 2 had his strut back this week and was playing chess against the fabled seaside links in a way that would have made past champions here like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods proud.

In the week where Jack Nicklaus was honoured for his St Andrews legacy and Tiger Woods potentially made his final competitive appearance on the Old Course, it ...

It's just a matter of keep knocking on the door, and eventually one will open. Major season is over unfortunately, but I still feel like there's a little bit to play for." McIlroy didn't have that extra level of confidence to burst through himself and say 'get out of the way, here I come'. "I'm playing some of the best golf I've played in a long time. I don't think it's a time to be critical of McIlroy, we should commend Smith here, but of course he's going to think he left something on the table." "I think it was a supremely competitive performance from Smith, more than the fact McIlroy came off the boil.

Rory McIlroy agonisingly missed out on his first major title in eight years after being pipped by Cameron Smith on the final day of The Open Championship at ...

“The last couple of years it has really started to pay off and this one definitely makes it worth it. I just have to dust myself off and come again and keep working hard and keep believing." However - unlike Smith - the birdie putts would not drop meaning his hunt for a fifth major title goes on.

Redemption eluded McIlroy once again at the 150th Open but there is optimism that his long wait for another major title could soon be over, writes Jack ...

“Coming down on 14, I knew that at that point Cam had birdied to go to 19 and I was at 18, so I knew that I needed to respond. I’ll have other chances to win the Open Championship and other chances to win majors. McIlroy would deliver a perfect bullet of a drive down the same hole, nodding with determination at caddy Harry Diamond to further underline his hardened shell and belief until the very end. The 28-year-old also became the first Australian player to win The Open since Greg Norman in 1993 and the first Australian to capture this famous trophy at St Andrews since Kel Nagle in 1960. I just have to dust myself off and come again.” His 20-under-par total, matching the record held by Henrik Stenson in 2016, toppled McIlroy and Viktor Hovland, who had held a four-shot lead to start the final round.