Best Australian golfer in the world?
That would be LIV’s most relevant defector — world No. 3 Cam Smith.
Cam Smith was supposed to win the just-completed Australian PGA — he was a heavy pre-tournament favorite. Through 36-holes, he was a shot behind fellow Aussie Jason Scrivener and they are worlds apart in talent level. Smith took control of the event in the third round and led by four heading into Sunday’s finale.
Final margin saw Smith post 14-under, three clear of Scrivener and Ryo Hisatsune.
Smith’s family was on hand, the most prominent member was his grandmother Carol, who recently finished two chemotherapy sessions. She walked every one of the 72 holes with her grandson, including Sunday’s session. The final round was twice interrupted by weather and took seven hours to complete. Grandmother Carol wore a maroon tee-shirt, Smith’s color of choice for all his final rounds — it’s the team color of his favorite rugby team — Queensland.
“I can’t believe she did it,” Smith said as he choked up on the 18th green at Royal Queensland. “Everyone at the start of the week was telling her to pace herself and she was out there all day every day, so it was pretty amazing. It was definitely inspiring. I don’t know how she did it, but it was also my dad’s birthday as well. After I got back to the tie for the lead there after 11, I really wanted to do it for those two.”
Smith put together three birdies in a five-hole stretch from the 12th saw the the world’s No. 3 set himself up to cruise to the win, making it the third time he’s won the Aussie PGA.
Smith won this event back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, is now a four-time winner on the DP World Tour.
“I really didn’t think I had it in me at the start of the week,” Smith said afterward. “I was a bit scratchy and the game has got better and better as the week went on, other than the front nine today.”
No Phil Mickelson In Any Future Versions Of “The Match”:
Per Match executive producer Bryan Zuriff, Phil Mickelson’s LIV defection means he’ll get no consideration for any future “The Match” events.
“I love Phil and he’s been an incredible part of this. But he knows, you know,” Zuriff said recently. “He went where he went (LIV), and we’re connected with the PGA Tour. So I mean, this is a PGA Tour event.”
Mickelson had been a part of the series since its inception.
“Unfortunately, he left the Tour, and that’s unfortunate for doing something like this,” Zuriff said.
While The Match is not owned or operated by the PGA Tour, there were a few factors driving its allegiance to golf’s biggest tour. The first, perhaps not surprisingly, is money. The Match is a commercial boon for Turner Sports, which broadcasts the event to huge audiences for surprisingly low overhead. For Turner, PGA Tour players are an easy sell to advertisers, which makes it easier for the network to generate a profit on the broadcast.
And there lies the major LIV problem as far as its future on any sort of television. Sponsors don’t want to touch it.
Rookie Dan Bradbury Wins Joburg Open:
Rookie Dan Bradbury turned pro this past summer and in just his third start, went wire-to-wire at the Joburg Open.
The Englishman fired rounds of 63-66-67-67 and was 21-under par at the Houghton Golf Club, three shots clear of Sami Valimaki. Bradbury was playing on a sponsor exemption and made the most of it.
“It won’t sink in for a few days, I don’t think, said Bradbury, who is now fully exempt on the DP World Tour. “It’s just a lot of pressure taken off your back – that’s nice – but it hasn’t sunk in yet and I don’t think it will for a while. I was a bit worried there on the 15th when Välimäki rolled that monster in but it was kind of the same thing all week, just keep playing my own game and I knew I was playing good enough. It turned out that way in the end.”
The DP World Tour stays in South Africa for next week’s South African Open at the Blair Atholl Equestrian and Golf Club.
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