By Golf-Smith won the Australian PGA Championship for a record third time on Sunday at Royal Queensland by a three-shot margin, fending off bids from Jason Scrivener and Ryo Hisatsune along the way.
Smith, the defending champion of the British Open, won the weather-affected tournament with a total score of 14 under par, largely thanks to a final-round score of three under par. An event with a prize pool of A$2 million ($1.35 million) with co-sanctioning from the DP World Tour of Europe.
The 29-year-old Australian, who had to leave his home country for three years due to the COVID-19 outbreak, also won the competition in 2017 and 2018.
“It’s really cool. At the beginning of the week, I honestly did not believe that I had it in me to pull it off, “Smith stated.
“Other than the front nine today, the game has gotten better and better as the week has gone on, despite the fact that I was a touch rusty,” he said.
Smith responded as follows when questioned about the two postponements in play that were caused by inclement weather: “you are in the mood a bit and for it to be stopped not once but twice was a little irritating but I just hung on and played powerful those last eight holes.”
An emotional Smith paid respect to his grandmother, who walked all 72 holes with him as a spectator despite just undergoing chemotherapy. Smith’s grandmother walked all 72 holes with him.
Smith remarked, “I just can’t believe she went through with it.” “At the beginning of the week, everyone was advising her to take it easy and not overdo it. It’s very incredible, and unquestionably a source of motivation.”
Hisatsune of Japan and Scrivener of Australia were right on the heels of the overnight leader Smith when they reached the halfway point of the final round. However, they were unable to maintain their pace and ended up finishing in a tie for second place.
The Englishman John Parry and the Australian Min Woo Lee ended in a tie for fourth place, and the two-time champion Adam Scott shot a score of three under par to finish tied for 28th place.
Smith is scheduled to play his next match at the Australian Open, which is considered to be the most prestigious event on the regional circuit. The tournament will make its comeback in Melbourne the following week as an integrated men’s and women’s tournament after being postponed twice due to the pandemic.
