Final Day Sunday at the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews

Posted on July 17, 2022
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A firm and firey St Andrews was predicted and with overnight and early morning rain - the Old Course had some of her fire taken away from her. There was still decent run off through fairways, with pot bunkers grabbing any loose shots, but greens were more receptive.



The 2 leaders started with their 4 shot lead and thus a big charge from the chasers had to ensue from the outset. Jordan made an early dab and looked sharp till he made bogey on 8. Despite opening with a 3-putt bogey, Cam Young, strung 4 birdies together by the 7th, to make some noise including unusually driving the par 4 7th.

Cam Smith, had a solid start, though he could not quite close the gap early, despite hitting greens and making solid putts.


Viktor struggled all day - only making his first birdie on the 12th and continually slipped down the leaderboard. Throughout the front 9, he felt he had a chance though, as Rory was not doing anything to steam ahead.

Rory was solid throughout, but could not quite stick any approaches tight, except for a great missed chance on the 3rd. He missed no greens in the final round, but had 36 putts in his 70. Unfortunately, this was simply not good enough against a charging contender.


But take your hat off for Cam Smith, bogey free in the final round, going for every shot on the back 9, which started with a 3 shot deficit. He was in trouble off the tee on 15, but then recovered from the hay to get back to the green. His putter stayed hot all day with significant 1 putts across the back 9 including that par save on 17.


Rory will rue his missed chances, losing a 4 shot lead at the Home of Golf in The Open with his immediate counterpart sliding out of contention. This one will sting, more than others and its a good thing we have no majors till April. He had a wedge in his hands on all the closing par 4s and could not make a single birdie as he chased.


Cam Smith, the Champion Golfer of the Year was insane. His 30 being the lowest back 9 to win The Open, his score of -20 tying the lowest winning score too (all majors) and he became the first Cameron to lift a major trophy. There are countless other records or best-of’s from this win, but most important was his 5 birdies in row, which also shattered Rory’s hopes.

The R&A will defend St Andrews and the winning score is just a number, but the players turned the course into a drive, chip and putt exhibition with the fast surfaces and lack of wind. Most players were able to fly most danger areas off the tee with ease, choosing rough over accuracy.



Round of the Day
A sensational turnaround by Sam Burns who went from a 77 on Saturday to a 64 on Sunday, which was also the week’s low number.


Shot of the Day
Down to the last hole, it was all on the line, and Cam Young stepped up to make eagle and force the issue. He will regret missed opportunities on 15 and 17 where he left birdie opportunities short after great approaches.


Performance of the Day
Its impossible to avoid Cam Smith in this discussion, but his playing partner Cam Young also had a good shout for it.


It was a massive turnaround from a stonecold Saturday for both Cameron’s and they fed off each other, down to an eagle and birdie exchange on the 18th, but it was the Aussie who was the Champion Golfer of the Year in the end.


The Leaders


The Chasers


The top 10s managed to lock their tickets into next year’s Open at Hoylake at Royal Liverpool. Sadly a few finished T11 who were all charging for a high finish, especially Kaewkanjana & Burmester who are not major regulars yet.

For a full view of the scores head to Open Leaderboard and
majorpunter leaderboard.

majorpunter Leaderboard:

Rank	Team	Punter	Total
1	Burry	Dale Burraston	-55
2	Team Scrotum	Jovan Tutunovic	-51
T3	GJBAMA	Charles Jenkins	-48
T3	Be some body!	Adi Erasmus	-48
5	Tee time	Claire Botha	-46
T6	Little General	Graeme East	-45
T6	Creamy Goodness	Justin Hodgson	-45
T8	Bradthig2	Bradley Thigpen	-44
T8	Historic Heroes	Greg Dane	-44
T8	Bradthig3	Bradley Thigpen	-44

Final Day Sunday was filled with drama right down to the wire. The punters battled it out all afternoon, until Burry separated from the chase off the back of a charging Harman!

Team Scrotum, GJBAMA & Be Some body! were left to settle for the podium, with GJBAMA coming from nowhere to claim 3rd, off the back of a charging Smith & Fleetwood.

It was an exciting weekend at the Home of Golf with a sensational back 9 to separate the best from the rest.

majorpunter Bottomboard:

Rank	Team	Punter	Total
T69	DWalkerIV	Duncan Walker	-21
T69	PokeyAU4	Preston Barnes	-21
T69	Fitzmagic	Wil Harper	-21
72	Bradthig1	Bradley Thigpen	-16
73	Fitzmagic2	Wil Harper	-12
74	Lilys Boyz	Lilian East	-11
75	Thirstbucket	James Bisset	-9
76	Fitzmagic4	Wil Harper	-8
77	I HATE MIKE ADAMS	David Alexander	-7
78	RLW-4	Luke West	-2

With all the birdies and eagles, no one ended below par, but there still had to be a bottom.

RLW-4 was solidly short in the chase this week and deservedly walks away with the wooden spoon, despite a mini charge on Sunday.

Not too far ahead were I HATE MIKE ADAMS, Fitzmagic4 & Thirstbucket who had weeks to forget.

Thats the end of the 2022 majors, its been a great season and we hope everyone has enjoyed their majorpunter experience. We have been very lucky to have enjoyed some cracking majors!

We are looking forward to the next major, the Masters where Rory will have another chance to finally nail the Grand Slam (and gain some redemption for 2022) and Scottie will be defending.

For more news and information head over to majorpunter.