For nine holes on Sunday, everything looked to be going pretty much to plan for McIlroy.
He was only able to find one birdie over the first nine holes, after hitting the par-five fifth in two, but with playing partner Hovland struggling and little emerging in the way of a charge from behind, McIlroy remained firmly in control of his own destiny.
All that would swiftly change, though, as Smith produced one of the great back nines in Open history to secure the Claret Jug in style.
Five successive birdies from the 10th took Smith from three behind to one ahead – with McIlroy also birdieing the 10th – and Smith then held his nerve superbly down the closing stretch.
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