Flying Start for Major-Seeking Smith

St Andrews, Scotland: Seeking a maiden Major championship, Cameron Smith made a blistering start to the 150th Open.

Making the most of the benign morning conditions at St Andrews, the 28-year-old Australian delivered a controlled five-under-par 67.

With two-thirds of the field having completed their rounds, Smith had sole possession of third place, three strokes off the pace being set by American Cameron Young and one shot behind second-placed Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy.

“It was nice to get out there this morning. It was a little bit fresh, but there wasn’t much wind around for the first three or four holes,” said the two-time former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) contestant.

Ensuring he did not pass up the opportunity, Smith reached the turn in three-under 33. He picked up further shots at 10 and 12, between which was sandwiched his only bogey of the day. A birdie at 18 ensured a sweet-tasting lunch.

He said: “It was just nice to get off to a good start. A couple of birdies in the first five holes really set the tone for the day.

“Any week it’s nice to get off to a hot start. But these Majors, I think the tougher the course gets, especially around here, how it’s going to get really firm and really fast, it’s almost going to be like holding on I think on the weekend.”

There were encouraging starts for a handful of other ex-AAC participants, including Smith’s compatriots Min Woo Lee and Lucas Herbert.

Playing in the first flight of the day, Lee, the younger brother of LPGA Tour star Minjee, posted a three-under 69, while Herbert parred all the holes on the back nine en route to a 70.

Also opening with sub-par rounds were Koreans KH Lee (69) and Kim Si-woo (70), while Thai Sadom Kaewkanjana recovered from three-over through 11 to sign for a 71. Of the New Zealanders, Ryan Fox returned a 71 and Ben Campbell a 74.

Of the three former AAC champions from Japan, only Hideki Matsuyama made it into red figures with a 71.

Takumi Kanaya, winner of the AAC in Singapore in 2018, did well to return a 74 after a nightmarish start that saw him propping up the leaderboard at five-over through four holes, a triple-bogey seven at the second followed by bogeys at three and four. To his credit, he covered the remaining 14 holes in three-under.

Keita Nakajima, winner of the 2021 AAC and number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, also made an inauspicious start with bogeys at each of the opening three holes. A birdie at the fourth stopped the rot and with nine holes remaining he was at two-over.