Cameron Smith duffed his tee shot horribly in near-darkness at 6.57am - and the first day never got much better for Australia's British Open Championship battalion over the next 14 hours as they're already being forced to play catch-up at Royal Portrush.
The mildly embarrassed 2022 champion could hardly credit his scuffed effort at the first hole of the 153rd Open that trickled, perhaps fittingly, a mere 153 yards into some rough stuff down the left. It wasn't even far enough to reach the fairway on a demanding Thursday morning on the Northern Ireland links.
But credit to the mulleted rugby league fan, he bounced back after labouring to the turn at three over and then scrapped, summoning up what he hailed as "a bit of Queensland spirit", to a one-over 72.
