By Rahul Banerji
Brisbane-born Cameron Smith sank a three-footer for birdie to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions by one shot from world no. 1 Jon Rahm of Spain on Sunday in Hawaii.
Smith totalled 34-under 258 on the par-73 Plantation Course in Kapalua, the best aggregate ever in PGA Tour history.
His rounds of 65, 64, 64 and 65 gave Smith his fourth PGA Tour title, and a second in Hawaii after the 2020 Sony Open.
In fact, the top three – Smith (-34), Rahm (-33) and Matt Jones (-32) – all improved on the previous Tour record, 31-under par by South African legend Ernie Els, at the same event in 2003.
It was the most strokes under-par in a 72-hole event, the PGA Tour noted:
On a windless, receptive course with greens running true, the top 18 all had scores of 20-under par and better.
Bottom-placed finisher Abraham Ancer of Mexico aggregated 10-under par over the four days, such was the scorching level of scoring on a friendly Kapalua surface.
Ending a run
Smith’s win broke an 11-year streak of American winners at the Sentry ToC to match fellow-Aussie Geoff Ogilvy’s feat from 2010, the last of nine straight international winners of the event from 2002 to 2010.
With a $1.4 million payout in his pocket, one of Smith’s early thoughts was a new car for his mother.
“I know Mom’s car is probably getting four-five years old, so maybe a new car for her,” the 28-year-old said at the post-event press conference.
“Unreal round,” Smith added. “Something I’ll never forget.”
“It was intense,” Smith said on pgatour.com of the final day. “Jonny (Rahm) and I played well the whole day.
“We had Matty (Jones) in the group in front lighting it up as well. So, yeah, unreal round, something I’ll never forget for sure.
“Rahm’s the best golfer in the world and there’s many reasons why he is. He flushes it and it seems like he drains every putt he looks at, so it was nice to overcome that and kind of give some punches back.
“I just played really solid the whole week. Obviously being a leader is not easy. Restless sleeps. I feel like I spent a lot of time looking at the ceiling in bed this week. I haven’t done that before.
“It was nice to kind of see where my game’s at against some of the best players in the world. I’ve been working hard and it’s paid off early in the season.”
Im is T8
Sungjae Im of Korea (67-67-65-69, 24-under 268) and Japanese superstar Hideki Matsuyama of Japan (69-65-68-69, 21-under 271) finished tied eighth and 13th respectively.
“I made a few silly mistakes in the beginning which didn’t allow me to keep my flow going,” Im said later.
“But since I finished in the top 10 from the first event of the year, I’m satisfied. I was happy to be part of the winners’ event from last year. I enjoyed the event here and hope to enjoy another good week next week (Sony Open).
“I want to keep my condition going. I changed my swing from last year and I can see the outcome of it now. It helps a lot as I have less missed shots these days. I have more accuracy and I’m looking forward to next week.”
Smith joined Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Zach Johnson, and Justin Thomas as players to have won both PGA Tour events in Hawaii, the Sentry ToC and the upcoming Sony Open.
Jon Rahm’s second-place finish was the eighth of his career from 114 starts.
Records aplenty
The amiable Spaniard also equalled the Tour record for most birdies (32) in a 72-hole event, tying Paul Gow (2001 B.C. Open) and Mark Calcavecchia (2001 Waste Management Phoenix Open).
Third-place finisher Matt Jones tied the 18-hole tournament scoring record with Sunday’s 12-under 61 and recorded the lowest 36-hole score to par (23-under) in consecutive rounds in Tour history.
On Sunday, Jones sank two eagles and a 50-foot birdie putt to close the gap on overnight joint leaders Smith and Rahm and in the end, Smith still needed a birdie to keep Rahm out of the winner’s circle.
“I have every reason to be smiling,” Rahm said about his score. “It’s a bittersweet moment.”
“This golf course only has one defense and that’s the wind. If people are shooting between 20 and 26 under with 20-mile-an-hour winds, what do you expect us to do when there’s absolutely no wind?”
“If you told me I would have shot 32 under I would have been more than happy to sit in the clubhouse and let everyone play and see what happens,” Jones added.
Also read: Im keeps alive hopes of chasing down title at Sentry TOC
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