FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, July 17th, 2022

NOTES AND QUOTES – CAMERON SMITH WINS 150TH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP AT ST. ANDREWS ON NBC AND PEACOCK

“This is a comeback for the ages. One of the greatest come-from-behind rounds we have ever seen in major championship history.” – Brandel Chamblee on Smith on Live From The Open on GOLF Channel and Peacock

“We now know who the best pressure putter in the game is. He had 25 one-putts this week – and only one three-putt.” – Paul Azinger on Smith

“It’s hard to win a championship with 13 clubs in your bag. That’s what Rory has had to do today. He two-putted every green today…he finished 59th in the field in putting.” – Azinger on Rory McIlroy

“Of all those near misses that we’ve talked about, can there be one that stings more than this? I would say absolutely not.” – Dan Hicks on McIlroy

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 17, 2022 – NBC Sports presented exclusive final-round coverage of the 150th Open Championship from The Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland across NBC, USA Network and Peacock, capped by Live From The Open on GOLF Channel and Peacock.

Cameron Smith (-20) shot a bogey-free final-round 64 to come from behind and win his first major championship, defeating Cameron Young (-19) by one shot. Rory McIlroy (-18) finished in third place.

150th Open Championship – Final Leaderboard

Player Total
Cameron Smith -20
Cameron Young -19
Rory McIlroy -18
Viktor Hovland -14
Tommy Fleetwood -14

 

Following are quotes from championship coverage on NBC and Peacock, and post-round coverage on Live From on GOLF Channel and Peacock.

ON CAMERON SMITH (20-under, Champion)

Cameron Smith to Mike Tirico on his biggest shot of the day: “Probably that putt on 17. To go up there with a couple of shots lead and then to hit the drive I did on 18, was pretty good…When the driver’s feeling good, I feel like that’s when my game is in a good spot. And when the putts are going in, that’s when I’m in contention.”

Paul Azinger: “If somebody other than Rory was going to win, they were going to have to kind of be a spoiler. You had to feel like 95% of the folks here were pulling for one man. That’s something to overcome. Jack had to overcome it against Arnold. I mean, it’s a part of it. Anyone that would ever try to beat Tiger down the stretch would have to battle the crowd as well. Cam Smith did that today and boy, he has got a lot of heart, a lot of guts.”

Brandel Chamblee on Live From The Open: “I can’t recall ever seeing anyone make five birdies in a row on their way to winning a major championship…the last time Cameron Smith made five birdies in a row – just to show you how rare it is that anybody does that, let alone Cameron Smith – was November 2015 when he was out of it and chasing and finished 37th. We just witnessed the lowest final round score of anybody to win an Open Championship at St. Andrews. This is a comeback for the ages…one of the greatest come-from-behind rounds we have ever seen in major championship history.”

Azinger: “We now know who the best pressure putter in the game is. Cameron Smith – no doubt about it. He has proved it to the world. THE PLAYERS Championship was just an extraordinary display, but how about this…what a way to finish.”

Dan Hicks: “Just as he did at THE PLAYERS, Cam Smith put on a putting display of historic significance…story of the day and story of the week was that red-hot putter.”

Azinger: “Twenty-five one-putts this week. And only one three-putt.”

Hicks: We’ve got another mullet winning The Open at St. Andrews – John Daly did it 27 years ago.”

Azinger after fifth straight birdie on the 14th hole to take the lead: “We knew that the fireworks were coming after they got past that ninth hole…but he has set them all off at the same time.”

Mark Rolfing: “The second shot he hit into the 16th hole here might be the best shot he hit all day. Truly a quality shot.”

ON RORY MCILROY (18-under, 3rd place)

Azinger: “It’s hard to win a championship with 13 clubs in your bag. That’s what Rory has had to do today. He’s two-putted every green today…he finished 59th in the field in putting. Rory hit 18 greens in regulation. He beat Viktor Hovland by four shots and didn’t win this tournament. Cam Smith took it from him, and actually, so did Cam Young. Cam Smith had nine fewer putts for the week than Rory McIlroy.”

Hicks on McIlroy: “Of all those near misses that we’ve talked about, can there be one that stings more than this? I would say absolutely not.”

Jaime Diaz on McIlroy on Live From: “I think being a great player and getting up there a lot means you have to face heartbreak sometimes. Sometimes you just get beat, and yeah he could have done more. He didn’t birdie the birdieable holes…But all those things are part of having to be resilient. And I think Rory is going to come out of this going, ‘I’ve gotten better with the putter, I’ve gotten better with the wedge and I can feel proud of what I did.’ But it still wasn’t quite enough, he still has room to improve. But this is what happens…a great putter does this to people and Cam Smith is probably in our game right now the best putter, especially clutch, and the guy most capable of what he was doing today.”

Chamblee on Live From: “It almost looked like Rory thought it was a two-horse race…he had a good eye on Viktor Hovland and Hovland didn’t make a birdie on the front nine…it seemed to me like Rory knew he was going to be able to make a few easy birdies in the round and if he didn’t do anything or make any big mistakes, it would be almost impossible for someone to come from behind and catch him. Well, what Cameron Smith did is almost impossible to predict.”

McIlroy to Kathryn Tappen on his thoughts walking off the 18th hole: “Just disappointment, I guess. I had a great opportunity today to add to that major tally and I didn’t quite get it done. I didn’t feel like I did many things wrong, but the putter just sort of went cold on me there pretty much throughout the round. I did what I wanted to do. I played a very controlled round of golf. I didn’t take advantage of some of the holes that I had been taking advantage of this week and when both Camerons, but especially Cam Smith, went on that run in the back nine, I really had to try to dig deep to make some birdies and I just couldn’t. So I got beaten by the better player this week. To go and shoot 64 to go and win an Open Championship at St. Andrews is a hell of a showing and hats off to Cam. He’s had an unbelievable week.”

McIlroy to Tappen on his takeaways from this week: “Just that I know that I can do it. I love this golf course, I play well here. The last two Opens I’ve played here I’ve finished third both times and it’s coming. I think just this whole major season – second at Augusta, third here, fifth at the U.S. Open, eighth at the PGA – I’m knocking on the door. I just need to stay patient, keep knocking on the door and eventually one will open for me again.”

Azinger after his par on the 14th hole: “Part of the whole process here is to take care of the par 5s. He’s let this one slip through his fingers.”

David Feherty after his missed birdie putt on the 16th hole: “He has played beautifully today. He just hasn’t been able to make a thing. He’ll have to wonder if he played too conservatively at the start of the round.”

Tiger Woods’ advice for McIlroy and Hovland on the final round at St. Andrews, as texted to John Wood: “I happened to text the master last night, Tiger, to see what he would be thinking going into this last round. He was nice enough to answer and he said this: ‘If I shot 19 under par, which would tie the lowest score in relation to par in all four majors, I would win. How do I go about doing that? No bunkers. No three-putts. Take care of the drivable par-4s, and take care of the par-5s. Maybe sneak in one or two more. Lo and behold, a score around 68 without doing anything special.’”

–NBC SPORTS–