It was a longer than usual Players Championship last week as blustery conditions prolonged the event. But when all was said and done it was Cameron Smith who emerged victorious shooting -13 for the tournament to claim a one stroke victory.
The 28 year old Aussie was greeted by his mother and sister greenside on 18, whom he had not seen in person in two years due to travel restrictions from the pandemic. It was a reunion well worth the wait as Smith delivered arguably the biggest win of his career at TPC Sawgrass.
Smith used a hot putter to take control of the tournament, one putting 8 of the 9 holes on the back nine. Despite bogeying the final hole, the mulleted Australian carded a 6 under par 66 for his final round, good for a one stroke victory over Anirban Lahiri of India.
TPC saw rain, and driving winds stretch the tournament to 5 days which also featured numerous lost balls and quirky shots owing to the weather. The famed 17th island green hole was particularly troublesome throughout the weekend.
With the victory, Smith takes home $3.6M in prize money, a 3 year exemption to the majors, and a 5 year exemption on the PGA Tour. The victory is the fifth of his PGA Tour career, and the second of the season for him.
As a result, the Aussie now moves into 6th place in the World Golf Rankings, up four spots from his previous position last week.
The Tour is next in action at the Copperhead Course for the Valspar Championship March 17-20th.
Photo: Craig ONeal. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.