The outstanding 2022 golf season for Cameron Smith is continuing. On Monday, Smith won the 2022 Players Championship from the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, just south of Jacksonville.
Smith shot a four-round score of -13 for his second PGA Tour victory of the season. The native of Brisbane won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui back in January. It was a remarkable performance for Smith in Hawaii to begin the 2022 calendar year because in the process, Smith shot a four-round score of -34, the best four-round score ever recorded in the history of the PGA Tour.
At Sawgrass this week, Smith beat India’s Anirban Lahiri by one stroke, England’s Paul Casey by two strokes, and American Kevin Kisner by three strokes. Lahiri was at -12, Casey was at -11, and Kisner was at -10. In winning the Players Championship, Smith won an incredible $3.6 million.
What will be most remembered by the 2022 Players Championship was the weather. During the first two days on Thursday and Friday, there was heavy rain, which significantly delayed proceedings. Then when round one was completed Saturday morning, players had to deal with the most difficult weather factor in all of golf–high winds. Even on Monday, there was heavy rain, which was not in the forecast, that impacted play briefly during the final round.
Smith meanwhile had a fantastic start to his final round on Monday. He birdied five of the first six holes. Then on the back nine, Smith recorded four straight birdies from the 10th to the 13th.
It should be noted that Australia has a rich history of success at the Players Championship. Prior winners include Steve Elkington of Inverell (1991 and 1997), Greg Norman of Mount Isa (1994), Adam Scott of Adelaide (2004), and Jason Day of Beaudesert (2016). When Norman won The Players Championship back in 1994, he set the best four-round score ever at The Players Championship with a score of -24. When Steve Elkington won The Players Championship in 1997, he beat American Scott Hoch by seven strokes. That is the largest margin of victory in the history of the Players.
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