Cameron Smith breaks Open record as Tiger Woods makes emotional early exit

Australia’s Cameron Smith stepped confidently into the spotlight vacated by Tiger Woods as Rory McIlroy remained firmly in contention in the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews.

After an emotional Woods made an early exit from almost certainly his last competitive appearance on the Old Course, Smith carded a flawless 64 for a 13-under-par halfway total of 131.

That surpassed the previous best for an Open at St Andrews – set by Nick Faldo and Greg Norman in 1990 and matched by Louis Oosthuizen in 2010 – by a shot and gave Smith a two-shot lead over Cameron Young, with McIlroy and Ryder Cup team-mate Viktor Hovland a shot further back.

Smith birdied his first three holes, picked up three more around the turn and then holed from 60 feet for an eagle on the 14th to raise the prospect of equalling the lowest round in men’s major history, Branden Grace’s 62 at Royal Birkdale in 2017.

And although he was unable to make any further gains, the 28-year-old from Brisbane still occupied top spot on a leaderboard packed with world-class players.

“That was pretty cool out there,” a typically understated Smith said. ” A lot of things went right, but to do it here was awesome.”

Young added a 69 to his opening 64, while McIlroy found himself six off the pace after covering the front nine in 35 but started for home with three birdies in a row and picked up another on the 17th to return a 68 marred only by a three-putt par on the last.

“I played well coming in, stuck to my game plan well,” McIlroy said. “I’m picking holes and walking off thinking I could have been a couple better, but I am in a great position going into the weekend.”

Smith started the year with a record 34-under-par winning total in the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii