Cameron Smith endured two lengthy lightning delays and a nerve-jangling final day to win his third Australian PGA title and cap his Claret Jug tour with a remarkable fifth win of 2022.
Smith, who at one stage faced the possibility of having to return on Monday to chase a third Joe Kirkwood Cup, kept his cool on the back nine after his three-shot overnight lead was wiped out to eventually win in fading Brisbane light.
The world No.3 will now turn his attention to the Australian Open, one tournament which has so far eluded him, after thrilling huge crowds who followed his every move at Royal Queensland all week.
Play during the final round was suspended for more than two hours in total after lightning was detected in the area shortly after lunch. The resumption lasted only eight minutes before horns blared again around Royal Queensland signalling another interruption.
Smith (-14), who had a comfortable lead heading into the final round, was joined by Jason Scrivener atop the leaderboard after players returned to the course for a second time.
But Smith made back-to-back birdies, the first after a miraculous flop shot into the 12th, and his title was all but sealed when Scrivener made a mess of the par-3 17th party hole, hitting a putt from just on the fringe through the green and into a bunker. Scrivener had taken relief after his tee shot had nestled in a sprinkler head and eventually signed for a double bogey.
Cameron Smith plays out of a bunker during the final round of the Australian PGA at Royal Queensland.Credit:Getty
Scrivener (-11), who has yet to win a DP World Tour event despite being a regular for more than a decade, responded with a birdie on the last for a closing 67. He shared second with Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune, who fired a final round 65.
Smith cut a frustrated figure for the first part of his final round on Sunday, but his sensational scrambling kept him bogey-free through 10 holes with a solitary birdie on the par-4 second.
It was a contrast to the procession most thought the final round would turn into with The Open champion an overwhelming favourite after fashioning a comfortable lead through 54 holes.
But Hisatsune and Scrivener applied pressure with birdie-laden outward nines before Smith steadied with birdies on 12, 13 and 16 to ensure the crowd got what they wanted. It followed his Australian PGA wins in 2017-18.
“It’s awesome,” Smith said. “I really didn’t think I had it in me this week, to be honest. I guess [the delays were] a little bit frustrating. You’re kind of in the mojo there a little bit, and to be stopped not once, but twice, was a little frustrating.
“But I was happy with how I played the last eight holes.”
Former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy (-5) carded an equal best six-under 65 on Sunday, while Smith’s LIV Golf teammate Marc Leishman (-6) warmed up for the Australian Open with a final-round 67.
“Tradition says that Melbourne gets a bigger crowd and it’s advantaged, I think, by being second because there will be people watching this weekend going, ‘oh, there’s golf next week, I might go watch’,” Ogilvy said.
2006 US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy.Credit:Getty
“Cam’s back, that makes it big if someone wins a major. Obviously when Scotty came back after the Masters, that was quite amazing. It’s a really good field. If we can actually get some decent weather and a nice sporting event to go see a British Open champion, I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t be pretty good.”
The lightning delays forced giant crowds following Smith and Masters champion Adam Scott (-4) to scramble for cover, plenty of them heading home instead of waiting for the final nine holes.
The group of Todd Sinnott, John Lyras and Alejandro Canizares were pulled from the course on the 18th hole in the first delay, and had to wait more than 100 minutes to play their approach and hole out. They managed to finish the hole in the eight minutes before the second delay, which lasted 42 minutes.
The delay also caused chaos to travel plans for many golfers, who had booked afternoon and evening flights to Melbourne to prepare for their Stonehaven Cup assaults.
The Australian Open will be played as a dual gender event for the first time with both men and women contesting for their own trophies across two courses at Kingston Heath and Victoria.
Watch the Australian Open on the 9Network and 9Now from December 1-4.
