Little-known Australian golfer Cameron John enjoyed the best day of his career as the world No. 1,007 competed at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland Links Champions) and finished second with a 10-under 62.
Kingsbarns is not far from St Andrews and all eyes will be on PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund President Yasir Al-Rumayyan taking part in the professional /Amateur in the same group, but John managed to steal some spotlight with nine birdies and an eagle.
Watch every round of the PGA Tour, exclusively live on Fox Sports, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
The 23-year-old finished one stroke behind South Africa's Darren Fitchart in the DP World Tour field, which includes major champion Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Mahjong Fitzpatrick.
“I obviously took advantage of the fact that it wasn’t very windy here,” John said. “We had a practice round on Monday and it was the first time I saw the course and I was like, wow, this place is pretty brutal.
“And then the stock went up today and I thought, everybody else is going to go down, so I might as well. I got really aggressive and hit a lot of good shots and obviously I made some putts, which was pretty good.”
Originally from Melbourne, John grew up playing golf with his father at Churchill Park Golf Club in Mount Endeavor, later moving to Commonwealth Golf Club on Melbourne's famous sand strip.
He has been playing on the PGA Australia Tour since turning pro in 2018, and his efforts on home soil this week gave him a start.
John has also featured on the Asian Tour and European Tour, but his breakthrough career win came at the National Championships in Australia in March, which he believes set the stage for him at Kingsbarns, St. Andrews and Cardiff. A good foundation for success on the Scottish links at Losty.
“Probably the closest thing to this is The Nation newspaper in Victoria,” John said.
“I would say it's probably the most similar to links golf.”
John won $36,000 earlier this year on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, while the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has a total purse of $5 million.
The Australian is partnered with St Andrews Links Trust chief executive Neil Coulson in the pro-am, which also includes former Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale, England Cricket greats James Anderson and Kevin Peterson and Hollywood actors Michael Douglas and Bill Murray.
The competition is played across three courses, with John and Colson playing at St Andrews on Friday before heading to Carnoustie for round three.
