Cameron Smith emerged victorious on home soil once again as he made it three straight victories in the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland, beating fellow Aussie Jason Scrivener and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune by three shots.
Smith suffered a mid-round collapse as he careered his way to a final round 68 which contained four birdies and one bogey that ultimately brought him back to level terms with Scrivener.
The Champion Golfer of the Year then asserted his dominance with birdies on the 12th and 13th, allowing the 29 year-old to push on and secure his third win at the tournament in front of his Queensland faithful.
However, It wasn’t always easy going for Smith and the rest of the field as they battled with some extreme weather which led to two delays, firstly, for surrounding lightning and secondly for heavy rain. These events meant organisers were considering pushing the finish into Monday.
Luckily for Smith, the inclement weather disappeared before fading light and he ventured back out to play some solid golf over the next eight holes, despite some frustration from the stoppages.
“You kind of have to get the mojo and for it to be stopped not once but twice is a little bit frustrating,'' he stated. "But I held on to it (the lead) and played solid on these last eight holes.”
Smith found himself battling it out with Scrivener after the stoppage, and the LIV golfer found his compatriot pushing him all the way before his double-bogey on the par-three 17th gave Smith a three shot lead over Hisatsune in solo-second.
Scrivener did in fact birdie the last to tie with Hisatsune, leaving Smith three-shots clear of the field who celebrated by drinking champagne from the bottle on the 18th green whilst his adoring home fans watched on.
“It’s awesome, mate,” Smith said. “I really didn’t think I had it in me to be honest. The start of the week was a little bit scratchy, but the game got better and better as the week went on, other than the front nine today.”
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