Australian Open: Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen holds nerve to beat home favourite Cameron Smith to title
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen beat Cameron Smith to win the Crown Australian Open; Rory McIlroy finished in a four-way tie for 14th after posting a three-under 69; McIlroy has called for better scheduling to get a strong field to Royal Melbourne
Sunday 7 December 2025 16:48, UK
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen picked up his first win on the DP World Tour as he held his nerve for a one-shot victory over Cameron Smith to win the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.
The Dane began the day with a two-shot lead and briefly fell two behind during a thrilling final day, before sitting tied with home favourite Smith as the pair made their way down the par-four 18th.
Neergaard-Petersen missed the green in regulation but got up and down to scramble a par, holing a putt from 10 feet, with a one-under 70 enough to snatch victory when Smith bogeyed the final hole and dropped back to 14 under.
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The winner of the Australian Open - the second event on the DP World Tour's 2026 season - receives an exemption to The Masters, while the top three finishers not already exempt earned qualification to The Open at Royal Birkdale.
Si Woo Kim ended two strokes back in third to earn one of the invites to The Open, with South Africa's Michael Hollick and former world No 1 Adam Scott taking the other spots after finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
How Neergaard-Petersen secured Australian Open title
Neergaard-Petersen saw his overnight advantage evaporate with a bogey at the par-four fourth, then cancelled out a tap-in birdie at the sixth by posting back-to-back blemishes around the turn to move Smith ahead.
A long-range birdie at the tough 12th led to a two-shot swing for Neergaard-Petersen, who pulled level thanks to Smith's bogey, with the Dane restoring his lead after adding another birdie at the next.
Neergaard-Petersen scrambled an unlikely par at the 14th from under a tree but was caught at the top as Smith made birdie on the same hole, with both players picking up shots at the 17th before Neergaard-Petersen secured his victory in a dramatic finish.
"I'm really at a loss for words," Neergaard-Petersen said. "It's been a battle all day. From the outside, sometimes you can look calm but there was a storm inside all day today. I managed to just keep battling and then to get it up and down from there to make that putt on the last."
McIlroy calls for better Australian Open slot
Rory McIlroy had to settle for tied-14th place after 11 bogeys over four days, including an unfortunate encounter with a banana peel on Saturday. In the final round on Sunday, the Northern Irishman shot a two-under 69.
McIlroy, the Race to Dubai winner who completed his career Grand Slam when he won the Masters this year, was making his first appearance at the Australian Open since 2015. He won it in 2013.
Speaking after his final round, the world No 2 called for a more favourable schedule to attract more of the game's top players.
While he thought the sand belt courses held massive appeal, the scheduling does not help it attract the top overseas players.
"I obviously would love to have a few more players come down and play, but it's hard with three tournaments going on in the schedule this week," said McIlroy, referring to the schedule clash with Tiger Woods' Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas and the DP World Tour's Nedbank Challenge in South Africa.
"There need to be conversations had with people much more important than me that set the schedules, and hopefully the Australian Open can find a date that accommodates everyone and everyone can at least have the option to come down."
McIlroy added: "People seeing the scenes here on TV…it'll definitely pique their interest."
What's next?
The DP World Tour is in South Africa for the Alfred Dunhill Championship, held at the Royal Johannesburg Club. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 10am on Sky Sports Golf. Stream golf and more with no contract.
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