Cameron Smith of Australia showed his grit when he took down Justin Thomas in the Presidents Cup last month and he did it again by chasing Brendan Steele all day before beating him in the first playoff hole in the Sony Open in Hawaii.
The 26-year-old Smith claimed his first individual PGA Tour victory by sinking an eight-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation to force the playoff, and then won with a par on the first extra hole at soggy Waialae Country Club https://waialaecc.com on the outskirts of Honolulu.
“I just had to hang in there because the conditions were tough and nobody played good golf today,” said Smith, who teamed with Jonas Blixt of Sweden to win the 2017 Zurich Classic of New Orleans and now has four victories as a pro.
“This is one I have wanted to check off for a while now because I have been out here for four or five years and to finally win by myself is really a good feeling. I just hope it brought some joy to people at home who are going through tough times.”
Smith, who has donated money for relief of victims in the massive fires in Australia, closed with a 4-under-par 68 to catch Steele with a score of 11-under 269.
Steele, seeking his fourth PGA Tour victory and first since the 2017 Safeway Open, opened the final round with a three-stroke lead and nursed it for 17 holes before Smith caught him.
The native of Idyllwild in the Southern California mountains, who attended UC Riverside, finished with a 71 and then hit his approach shot over the green to make a bogey in the playoff.
“It hurts a lot,” said Steele, who made a bogey on the 17th hole and then was fortunate to save par after hitting his approach shot over the grandstand on the 18th. “I’m just a California kid who doesn’t like playing in the rain. I worked hard, but it wasn’t good enough.
“I battled as hard as could through the rain and just couldn’t bet any putts to go in. It’s just tough. I battled lot the last year and half, but this will give me a lot of confidence going forward.”
Webb Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champion, closed with a 67 and was one stroke back in third, while Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland shot 64 to finish two behind in a tie for fourth with Kevin Kisner, who had a 69, and 2009 Sony champion Ryan Palmer, who wound at 68.
Lanto Griffin carded a 64 that tied McDowell for low score of the day and was three down in a tie for seventh with Ted Potter Jr., who had a 66, while Cameron Davis of Australia and Henrik Norlander of Sweden both posted 68s to wind up one more back in a tie for ninth with Bo Hoag, who came in at 69.
First-round leader Collin Morikawa of La Canada Flintridge and Cal struggled to a 72 with bogeys on three of the last four holes, falling out of the top 10 and into a tie for 21st.
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