Rory McIlroy tasted more major heartache as a cold putter saw him miss out on the 150th Open at St Andrews, with Australian Cameron Smith shooting a brilliant final round 64.
Smith, the world number six, finished on 20-under-par, one shot ahead of American Cameron Young and two clear McIlroy, who was four shots clear of Smith at the start of the day.
McIlroy, without a major victory since 2014, held a two-shot lead midway through the final round and carded a bogey-free closing 70, but that was not enough to end his eight-year drought in the game's biggest tournaments.
Smith, who held the halfway lead before falling four off the pace with a third-round 73, fired eight birdies - including five in a row from the 10th - to card his second 64 of the week and finish 20 under par, beating the previous best of 19 under on the Old Course set by Tiger Woods in 2000.
Young made a brilliant eagle on the 18th in his closing 65 to force Smith to hole from two feet for his final birdie, leaving McIlroy needing his own eagle to force a four-hole play-off.
However, the 33-year-old was unable to produce a moment of magic and had to settle for a par that meant Smith could celebrate an extraordinary victory at the Home of Golf.
A final round 70 from 2019 Open winenr Shane Lowry saw the Offaly man finish on nine under par in a tie for 21st.
In benign conditions it was a disappointing final round for qualifier David Carey, who shot a one-over 73 to finish on three under for the tournament, in a tie for 62nd.
McIlroy was understandably emotional after his latest close run thing in a major.
"It's just disappointment, I guess," he told the Golf Channel. "I had a great opportunity today to add to that major tally and I didn't get it done.
"It didn't feel like I did much wrong, but the putter went cold on me there pretty much throughout the round.
"I did what I wanted to do today, I played a controlled round of golf, I didn't take advantage of some of the holes I had been taking advantage of this week.
"When Cam Smith went on that run on the back nine I had to dig deep to make birdies and I just couldn't.
"I got beat by the better player: to shoot 64 to win an Open at St Andrews is a hell of a showing."
Smith was elated with his first major win, coming after victory at the Players Championship earlier this year.
"Jeez, what a week., I'm going to fall apart here I know," said Smith as he fought back the tears.
"It was absolutely awesome out there. The course was exactly how an Open Championship should be played: firm and fast. It was absolutely unreal.
"I had a lot of support out there, especially the Aussie guys who really kept me going out there. This one's for Oz."
Smith added: "It's just unreal. This place is so cool. To have the 150th Open here and to walk away with the win is just something that I have dreamt of.
"I didn't even know I was going to get this far and it's just awesome.
"It's unreal to look at these names on this trophy and then add mine, I'm lost for words.
"I'm definitely going to find out how many beers fit in this thing, that's for sure," he said, gesturing to the Claret Jug.
On his remarkable escape with par at the 17th, having left himself behind the bunker, he said: "I was just trying to get it on the green there and give myself a look.
"I knew if I could get it somewhere inside 15 or 20 feet I'd have a good run at it and luckily I got away with it."
