Aussie world No.1,007 upstages PGA and LIV stars in bonkers round

Little-known Australian golfer Cameron John enjoyed the best day of his professional career as the world number 1007 fired a stunning ten-under par round of 62 to sit in second place at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.

All eyes at Kingsbarns – just down the road from St Andrews – were on PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund Yasir Al-Rumayyan playing in the same group in the pro-am event, but John managed to snatch some of the spotlight with nine birdies and an eagle.

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The 23-year-old sits one shot behind South African Darren Fichardt in the DP World Tour event with a field which includes major champions Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick.

“I obviously took advantage of the fact that it wasn’t that windy out here,” John said. “We ahead a practice round Monday and it was the first time I had seen the course, and I was like, wow, this place is like pretty brutal.

“And then rocked up today and I was like, everyone else is going to go low so I might as well. The I got pretty aggressive and hit a lot of good shots, and I obviously managed to roll some putts in which was nice.”

John hails from Melbourne having grown up playing golf with his father at Churchill Park Golf Club in Endeavour Hills before moving to Commonwealth Golf Club on the famed Melbourne Sandbelt.

He has plied his trade on the PGA Tour of Australasia since turning professional in 2018 and his efforts on home shores granted him a start this week.

John has also featured on the Asian Tour and in Europe, but his breakthrough professional victory came in Australia at The National Tournament in March which he believes set him up well for success on the Scottish Links at Kingsbarns, St Andrews and Carnoustie.

“Probably most similar to this would be down at like The National in Victoria,” John said.

“That was probably the most similar, I would say, links kind of golf.”

John pocketed $36,000 for his win on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula earlier this year, whereas the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has an entire prize pool of US$5 million.

The Australian is paired with chief executive of the St Andrews Links Trust Neil Coulson in the pro-am event which includes former Real Madrid and Tottenham winger Gareth Bale, England cricket greats James Anderson and Kevin Pietersen as well as Hollywood actors Michael Douglas and Bill Murray.

The tournament is played across three courses with John and Coulson to play at St Andrews on Friday before taking to Carnoustie for their third round.