The Open 2023 Top 10 Best Shots

Playing in his first major championship, NSW’s Travis Smyth was resigned to the fact he wouldn’t be playing on the weekend as his second round drew to an end. But stepping up to the tee on the tricky par three 17^th hole, Travis hit the perfect nine iron to make his Open debut one to remember.

Bryson DeChambeau proved his fitter and leaner physique still generates enormous distance when he drove the fourth green with a massive blow on Sunday. His drive almost hit the flagstick while the group in front was putting out and he would convert the putt for eagle. Bryson finished tied 60^th at the Open, 20 shots behind winner Brian Harman.

In the final round, Scotty smoked a 351-yard drive off the fourth tee into the greenside bunker. His ball was uncomfortably close to the revetted face of the bunker but Scotty made it look all too easy, holing out for eagle.

The short but difficult par 3 17^th hole at Hoylake claimed its share of victims during Open week. Perth’s Min Woo Lee looked likely to become another one after he flew his tee shot into the sandy waste area left of the green. However, his remarkable open-faced blast through the sand and weeds finished within three feet of the pin and the 24-year-old holed the putt for par.

The 12^th hole was fast becoming a nightmare for Brian Harman on Friday. After having to chip out backwards after his drive finished in a fairway bunker, the lefty then shortsided himself with a poor approach shot. But he showed the touch of an Open champion with a deft, wristy chip shot that trickled into the hole for an unlikely par.

Lanky six-foot-eight South African Christo Lamprecht was the highlight of Thursday at Royal Liverpool. The 22-year-old, who won the British Amateur to book his ticket to Hoylake, carded a five-under 66 that was boosted with a tasty chip in for birdie at the 14^th hole.

The first two days of the Open weren’t kind to Spanish superstar Jon Rahm. He drilled a spectator on the head, berated a camera crew for being too close and dropped an all-time F-bomb after missing a short par putt. But on Saturday he was in full flight when shooting a bogey-free 63 to race up the leaderboard. The 12-foot putt he buried at the last for birdie saw him better the Royal Liverpool course record by two shots. And it gave him at least an outside chance of reining in Brian Harman on Sunday.

The Frenchman displayed astonishing short game class on Saturday. On the 15^th hole, Rozner chipped in from 29 yards for eagle. But it was his bunker shot on the 18^th hole that truly dazzled. Crouched with one foot in the sand and a knee on the grass, Rozner escaped from a nasty lie in a pot bunker with an unbelievable shot that finished eight feet from the pin. He went on to bury the putt for birdie.

A second-place finish at Hoylake delivered Aussie Jason Day the “grand slam” of runner-up finishes. Sidelined by wrist and back injuries for the past few years, the result highlighted how much progress Day, a former world No.1, has made this year. A pure pitch shot on the ninth hole was vintage Day, holing out for birdie from a tight lie.