While the entire St. Andrews followed Rory McIlroy, Cameron Smith, a team ahead, and put together a run of five birdies in a row to jump to the top of the leaderboard through 14 holes.
He didn't blink once on Sunday. For the first time, he looked a little confused as he held the trophy.
"What a week - I'm going to be destroyed here, I know," he said. But if there's one thing he hasn't done over the past four days, it's come apart, even on a difficult Saturday.
The day before he was named golf champion of the year, Smith wanted to know where the mistake went.
He shot a round of 73. He looked sad. He talks about how the golf gods were against him.
He regrets how he excitedly attacked the 13th to play it hard - and left with a double bogey.
The optimism we saw in his first two laps was lost for the moment, leaving us with what we believed to be a straight shootout between the evening's leaders.
McIlroy and Viktor Hovland .-- at the championship. But Smith hasn't given up hope—far from it.