Cameron Smith's class prevails as he wins Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland Golf Club for third time
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Updated 27/11/2022 at 12:08 GMT
The final round of the Australian PGA Championship had two delays for electrical activity in the air, but once it resumed Cameron Smith fended off a couple of challenges to win the tournament for a third time. He did not have his very best golf on show, but he was able to delight his home fans at Royal Queensland Golf Club by beating off Ryo Hisatsune and Jason Scrivener.
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Cameron Smith overcame a couple of rain delays and a mid-round wobble to win the Australian PGA Championship for a third time.
Smith was back playing competitive golf on Australian soil for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, and set himself the target of winning the event in front of his home Queensland fans.
He made a steady start over the first couple of days at Royal Queensland Golf Club, before seizing control on Saturday.
The weather made things tricky, with players on and off the course, but once the final storm rolled through, Open champion Smith showed his class to claim the win.
"It is awesome,” Smith said. "I really did not think I had it in me this week, to be honest.
"The start of the week was a little bit scratchy, and the game got better and better as the week went on.”
On the weather delays, Smith added: "It wasn’t ideal, a little frustrating. You are in the mojo a little bit and for it to be stopped not once but twice, was a little bit frustrating. But I held on to it and played really solid those final eight holes.”
Final Leaderboard
- 1. Cameron Smith, 14-under
- T2. Ryo Hisatsune, 11-under
- T2. Jason Scrivener, 11-under
- T4. John Parry, nine-under
- T4. Min Woo Lee, nine-under
- 6. David Micheluzzi, eight-under
Smith started the final day with a three-stroke lead, and made a steady start alongside playing partners Masahiro Kawamura and Yan Wei Liu.
All three of the final group produced solid golf in the opening nine holes, with Smith one-under after a birdie on the second and three impressive par saves from bunkers. Liu kept the gap to Smith to three thanks to two birdies and a bogey but Kawamura dropped back.
It was left to Ryo Hisatsune and Jason Scrivener to make things interesting heading into the final nine holes as the pair charged up the leaderboard.
Hisatsune made a birdie, eagle start and despite a bogey on the third, he made four more birdies to get within one shot of Smith.
Scrivener, who held the lead after 36 holes, mixed birdies and bogeys in a roller coaster round and was within one of Smith when the horn went for a second time to halt play.
When play resumed, there was a three-way tie within five minutes as a clumsy chip from Smith on the 11th resulted in his first bogey of the round.
Smith looked frustrated to miss the putt for par, and wildly pulled his tee shot to the left on 12. With a tree blocking his path, he grabbed the lob wedge and went for a high-tariff flop shot. He pulled it off to perfection, and rolled in the birdie putt to get back in front.
Smith’s play from the tee was not perfect, and he leaked shots to the right on 13 and 14 - seemingly overcompensating for the hook on 12.
On 13, he got his second shot pin high and made the birdie to get back in front of a dogged Scrivener once again.
Smith was happy to walk off the 14th with a par after his tee shot found the thick stuff. He was able to muscle the ball to the back of the green, and comfortably two-putted.
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Scrivener birdied the par-five 15th to keep within one of Smith, but missed a makeable chance on 16 and his chance fizzled out with a huge error on 17.
His tee shot came up short and dropped into a sprinkler head. He got free relief, but inexplicably putted his ball off the green and into a bunker. From there, he could only splash out to 45 feet and ended up with a momentum-killing, double-bogey five.
With Hisatsune setting the clubhouse mark at 11-under, Smith had a two-shot cushion for the final three holes. A birdie on 16 extended the advantage to three, and allowed him to have enjoy the crowd on the 17th hole, which was surrounded by huge galleries.
His focus returned for the 18th, and he was able to enjoy the walk as he secured a fifth win of the year - which included victory at LIV Golf Chicago in September.
Adam Scott had huge support in Queensland, and he closed with a 68 to finish at four-under.
Marc Leishman, who like Smith joined LIV Golf earlier in the year, produced his best round of the week, a 67, to finish the tournament at six-under.
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