Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida – After five days of dreadful weather and the usual edge of your seat drama at The Players Championship, Cam Smith one-putted his way to the lion’s share of the richest purse in golf. The 28-year-old Aussie who lives close by in Jacksonville Beach (and calls TPC Sawgrass a “home game”), managed to one-putt eight of his last nine greens to finish at 13 under par, good enough to hold off Anirban Lahiri by a stroke.
Leading by 2 standing on the tee at the par-3 17th hole, Smith was fearless and took dead aim, stuffing the 135 yard shot to 4 feet away. Moments later he sent the crowd into a frenzy when he poured in the putt for a record-tying 10th birdie of the final round. For the moment he held a 3 stroke advantage, but Lahiri had thoughts of his own on taking on the far right hole location (just 12 feet from the edge of the water). Lahiri followed with own birdie on 17 to reduce the lead to two.
Smith blocked his tee shot right at the last and was forced to punch out from the pine straw- where he found the water. After taking a drop, his 57-yard pitch shot zipped right next to the hole just 3 feet away. Smith tapped in for bogey and a 6-under par 66. Lahiri had one last shot to tie after a perfect drive on 18, his approach came up just short of the green and the chip to send it to extra holes came up a few revolutions shy. He closed with 69 to finish solo 2nd at 12 under par.
Afterward, Cam Smith talked about that 9 iron on the 17th, “I’d be lying if I didn’t push it a little bit,” he said. The win was Cam Smith’s second this year, and the fifth time of his PGA Tour career – the $3.6 million first prize is the richest in golf as is the 20 million total purse.
Paul Casey finished with a final round 69 and was the victim of a terrible break on the par 5 – 16th hole when his nearly perfect tee shot came to rest in a pitch mark from a previous drive. He managed to make par, but the break to away any chance to go for the green and make a serious charge down the stretch.
