Stunning finish at Australian Open: Cam Smith’s short miss flips script

A spectacular tournament deserved a spectacular ending, and so the 2025 Australian Open got what it deserved.

Just not the outcome its fans really wanted.

In a stunning 72nd-hole reversal, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen got up-and-down from improbable territory in long grass right of the green — and then Cameron Smith three-putted for bogey from the other edge of the green, handing Neergaard-Petersen his first DP World Tour victory in the process.

Thousands and thousands from a sellout crowd ringed the final green as Smith and RNP came up the last all tied, but after Neergaard-Petersen’s approach shot sailed right, into jail, Smith found the green and placed himself squarely in the driver’s seat. It would have marked a storybook ending to Smith’s 2025; this is the first cut he’s made in eight non-LIV starts this year. Instead it marked a massive step in the right direction but a particularly harsh way to come up short, too.

Instead Neergaard-Petersen has his own perfect way to finish 2025; just a year after playing (and winning) the HotelPlanner Tour, he’s played well enough to earn a PGA Tour card for 2026 and now his maiden victory on the DPWT, too.

“To get the win here at my final event of the year was the only thing missing from a perfect year. I’m so happy,” he said in a post-round interview.

We’ll have more to say about this glorious golf tournament, but in the meantime here are a few notes from Royal Melbourne.

-With the win Neergaard-Petersen also qualifies for the Masters; this is the first year the Australian Open has been given a berth and he took full advantage.

“It means the world. The Masters is the event I’ve grown up watching so many times, just dreaming of playing it,” he said.

-He’s also the first Dane to win the Australian Open.

-His winning putt was remarkable. A big-breaker hit with confidence and perfect speed.

-Smith’s three-putt was understandable, if regrettable; he was traversing the final green from miles away, and his first putt broke a ridiculous amount.

-The birdie putt Smith holed at No. 17 to stay tied was really good stuff.

-Three players (Si Woo Kim, Michael Hollick) to earn a spot in the 2026 Open Championship. That’s massive for Hollick, who has never played a major championship. It’s also massive for Scott, who is now in line to play all four majors for the 25th season in a row. Preposterous streak.

-Rory McIlroy’s week was clearly meaningful to the man himself as well as to the thousands who trailed him ’round Royal Melbourne. Only fitting, then, that he finish with a flourish, birdying Nos. 17 and 18 to go out on a high note.

“It’s been absolutely amazing,” McIlroy said post-round. “I’ve been excited to come back down here for a while.

“Obviously it’s been over 10 years since I played in the Australian Open and I guess just look the scenes out there this week, the crowds, the golf course, they were absolutely incredible.”

Good news: he’ll be back next year.

We will be, too.