Cameron Smith: Top facts about the 2022 Open Championship winner

Australia's Cameron Smith won his first major golf title in spectacular fashion, overcoming Rory McIlroy on the final day of the 150th Open Championship.

Smith found another gear on the back nine. The 28-year-old hit five birdies to ultimately surpass McIlroy and Viktor Hovland, who he trailed by four shots to begin the day.

Smith edged fellow Cameron, PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young, by one shot in the end, shooting 64-under on the day.

The Australian finished at 20-under 268 to complete a historic performance that will be remembered for many years at the British Open.

Cameron Smith: Aussies rule

It's been 62 years since an Australian golfer has won at St. Andrews.

Kel Nagle won it in 1960 as he saw off the great Arnold Palmer en route to lifting the Claret Jug.

The Brisbane-born Smith is the fifth Australian to win at the Open overall, following in the footsteps of Peter Thomson (1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965), Nagle (1960), Greg Norman (1986, 1993) and Ian Baker-Finch (1991).

Cameron Smith: Mullet magic

For the past few years Smith has been known for the mullet he's been growing. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, he shaved the letters 'AUS' on the side as a shout-out to his home country.

"It just come around, I saw a few of the rugby league boys at home doing it," Smith explained as the motivation behind opting for the hairstyle that became famous in the 1980s.

"It was a great time to do it during quarantine, just something fun. Make people have a laugh about it. I've just kind of kept it going. I've almost turned it into my good luck charm. It not bad. I think it needs a little bit of a trim at the front. I'd really like to go full business at the front and party at the back. But maybe within the next couple months, it might change up a little bit."

The mullet brings back memories for golf fans of John Daly winning the Open Championship 27 years ago.

Cameron Smith: Olympic debut

Smith made his debut in the Olympics for Team Australia at Tokyo 2020, where he finished in the top ten overall.

He shot a 14-under 270 and drew level in tenth alongside Chile's Joaquin Niemann and Austria's Sepp Straka and, once again, his mullet played a starring role.

"Yeah, I mean, it's the Olympics. It doesn't happen too often. I thought I would give Australia a shoutout on the side of the melon.

I mean, I thought about it for a few weeks beforehand and then I just said stuff it, I'm going to do it, and I think it's been received pretty good.

"My mom called me up. She was laughing.

"She was like, 'oh, you were just on the news'. Called me all sorts of names, but she loved it and she loves that it brings a lot of, I guess, joy to, it puts a smile on people's faces, I think, she enjoys the most, so, yeah."

Cameron Smith: Golf in the blood

Smith has been playing golf since he was a three-year-old and has been on the trajectory of becoming a top professional from a young age. There's one major reason for that: his father Des.

"I used to follow him around the local golf course," Smith said of his father Des, speaking with the PGA Tour.

Des was a former club champion in Brisbane and he introduced the game to his son, who went on to become one of Australia's top amateur players when he was a teenager, and as he proved today, one of the game's greats to follow for many years to come.