Cameron Smith's father Des was supposed to be at St Andrews for his son's British Open triumph but opted against the trip at the last minute.

Des Smith cut down a set of clubs and fashioned a holder out of PVC pipe on the side of his golf buggy for his young son Cameron when he was just a toddler.

Before dawn on Monday morning the new British Open champion had to call his dad to celebrate his biggest triumph after Des changed his mind at the last minute on plans to be there with him.

"I was supposed to be over there but I chickened out. I'm kicking myself," Des told ABC.

"(Watching the final few holes was) exciting and nerve-wracking, but it was good.

"He was rubbing it into me (on the phone after the win) about not going as well; I'll hear about that for a while."

An avid Brisbane rugby league fan growing up, the slimly-built Smith ditched his footy dreams for golf and by 12 was beating his club champion dad at their Wantima Country Club course.

"I just told him I was proud of him and what a great achievement it was for him," Smith told the Seven Network of their brief conversation before he lifted the Claret Jug.

"Then I broke down crying, so I couldn't talk too much.

"We've been golfing buddies since he was about three, I think."

The aptly understated Wantima club now holds a Cameron Smith Junior Classic, while the 28-year-old regularly hosts emerging Australian juniors and young professionals at his Florida home.

"The golf club's very proud of him, have been proud of him for years," Des Smith said.

"He doesn't put a foot wrong."