The great Aussie hope Cameron Smith has fired himself into the outright lead after turning for home in a three-way tie for the lead at the Australian Open.
With nine holes to play the Queenslander was one-under for his final round at 13-under alongside overnight leader Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Korean Si Woo Kim.
But he claimed the outright lead with a birdie on the 10th.
Former winner Adam Scott is next, two shots adrift at 11-under while fellow Aussie Min Woo Lee has struggled, dropping two shots for his round to be off the pace at eight-under.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy has had issues on the greens and is about to finish his round at five-under. – SCOTT GULLAN
THE ONE MAN NOT CHEERING A FINAL-DAY MCILROY MIRACLE
Not everyone has been a fan of Rory McIlroy at Royal Melbourne this week. Certainly not American Charlie Hoffman, who stepped up his comeback from injury with a rare appearance at the Australian Open (Hoffman missed the cut with 73-73).
Now, to put it mildly, Hoffman and McIlroy have had beef in the past.
Most of it stems from Hoffman sending a letter to his fellow PGA Tour members earlier this year criticising players who say they want to play less events but still compete in the DP World Tour’s Race To Dubai, the indoor simulator league TGL and The Showdown, a one-off event played before last Christmas which included world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
Guess who was the only player to feature in all the events Hoffman mentioned? McIlroy. You can understand if he felt it was a personal attack.
This week, Hoffman was asked by Golf Australia magazine about how to get more American players to Australia’s big events when the conversation turned to McIlroy, who has insisted he wants to play traditional and historic tournaments and test himself on courses like Royal Melbourne.
“Let’s get this straight — Rory is getting paid to be here,” Hoffman said.
“He’s not here just because it’s Royal Melbourne. He’s being paid, simple as that. The course is one of my favourites in the world, but if Rory wasn’t getting paid, he wouldn’t be here.”
Ouch!
Originally published as Australian Open golf: Final round leaderboard, news from Royal Melbourne
