⛳️ Smith Storms Home For Open Glory

Good morning, it's Monday, 18 July. This is a great day for Australians, golf fans and mullet enthusiasts, like Cameron Smith, who is all 3 and the freshly crowned winner of The Open. 

⏱ 963 words = 5 minutes

👀 We've got a new contender for goal of the year in the AFL...

THE MAIN GAME

⛳️ Smith storms home to win The Open 

For the first time since 1995, a man with mullet has won The Open Championship at St Andrews. The best part: he's all ours! 

Golden points: Cameron Smith produced one of the greatest final rounds in men's major championship history to win The Open by one shot this morning in Scotland. 

• Smith shot an 8-under 64 to finish -20 for the tournament, one shot clear of American Cameron Young and 2 clear of Rory McIlroy.

• Smith birdied the 1st 5 holes on the back 9 - the 1st time that's happened in 20 years in the final round at a men's major - and birdied the last hole for good measure.

• He was ice cold with his putter all week. He made clutch putt after clutch putt, including a nerves-of-steel par putt on the 17th.

• Smith is the 1st Aussie to win a major since Jason Day won the PGA Championship in 2015, and he's the 1st Aussie to win The Open since Greg Norman in 1993.

• It's been a huge year for Smith and it's only July! He won the Players Championship in March, finished 3rd at The Masters and now has his 1st major trophy at the age of 28.

They said it: "I'm definitely gonna find out how many beers fit in this thing, that's for sure," - Smith will be making full use of the Claret Jug. 

The stat: We've already given you a few but how's this for a big picture look: For the 1st time in history, all 4 men's major winners in a calendar year are in their 20s. 

Watch it: Check out the winning shot here and for a behind-the-scenes look at the final round, click the image below. 

QUICK SINGLES

🏑 Hockey: The Hockeyroos win bronze at Women's Hockey World Cup. Australia beat Germany 2-1 this morning in the 3rd-place playoff thanks to 2 4th-quarter goals by Stephanie Kershaw. The Aussies lost 1-0 to the Netherlands in the semis yesterday, making it the sixth-straight World Cup that the Dutch have beaten the Hockeyroos. 

🏉 Rugby: England coach Eddie Jones tells hecklers to go and get stuffed. Jones actually used much stronger language at spectators who called him a "traitor" at the SCG on Saturday night. Jones had the last laugh because his England side won 21-17 and won the series against the Wallabies 2-1.

🏉 AFL: The Kangaroos are officially on a winning a streak. North Melbourne ended a week where they lost their head coach David Noble with a thrilling win over Richmond. The win snaps a 14-game losing streak and means the North social media team could finally use this brilliant piece of content. 

🚴‍♂️ Cycling: Jonas Vingegaard's chances of winning Le Tour take a hit. Not only did he crash in Stage 15 overnight (he's okay btw), but 2 of his gun climbing teammates have pulled out with injury. But he's still got the yellow jersey and a 2:22 lead over 2-time defending champion Tadej Pogačar. 

🏏 Cricket: Australia's spin King bamboozles Ireland. Leg-spinner Alana King finished with the outstanding figures of 3-9 from 4 overs in Australia's 9-wicket T20 international win over Ireland this morning. 

LEFT OF FIELD

🏉 NRL: One of the highlights of the weekend in the NRL didn't come on the field but when a motorist tried to help out during the Roosters-Dragons game. The key word there is 'tried'. When Zak Lomax's conversion sailed out of Central Coast Stadium, a passing motorist spotted the ball, got out of his car and tried to get the ball back. His attempt at a torpedo punt was given an A for effort but a D- for execution. The ball went back into traffic but fortunately did not cause an accident, but he did lose his kicking license. 

📽 Highlight reel: If AFL legend Eddie Betts calls this goal from Bombers big man Sam Draper the goal of the year, who are we to argue? 

📸 Photo finish: Aussie tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt got inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on the weekend. The pandemic forced his induction back a year, but it was worth the wait. He even spilled the beans on how he borrowed/stole his signature 'C'mon!' celebration. 

THE POLLING BOOTH

Friday's result: 38.24% described their golf game as a 'weekend hacker'  

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

• ⚾️ 9:00am - Baseball - MLB Draft - Los Angeles - Foxtel, Kayo

• 🥇11:00pm - Athletics - World Championships - University of Oregon, Oregon - Foxtel, Kayo

• ⚽️ 5:00am (Tuesday) - Women's Euro 2022 - Italy v Belgium - Manchester City Academy Stadium, Manchester - Optus Sport

All times AEST

THE MANAGER'S OFFICE

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