Smith Scores Stunning Record Victory

Maui, Hawaii, United States: Two-time Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) contestant Cameron Smith has fired the lowest 72-hole score in PGA Tour history to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

The 28-year-old Australian finished one stroke ahead of Spaniard Jon Rahm, the world number one, at 34-under-par for the tournament on the Plantation Course at the Kapalua Resort.

It was Smith’s fourth victory on the PGA Tour and saw him rise into the top-10 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time.

After closing with an eight-under 65 to clinch his second individual PGA Tour title, Smith, said: “It was intense. Jonny (Rahm) and I played well the whole day and we had Matty (Jones) in the group in front lighting it up as well. An unreal round. Something I’ll never forget.”

Smith won the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2020 and is also a two-time winner of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, in partnership with Jonas Blixt in 2017 and alongside Marc Leishman last year.

Of his latest triumph, Smith added: “I was just trying to hit one shot at a time. We spoke about it earlier in the day that we wanted to get to 35-under. We missed it by one so in that sense disappointing … but I’m happy to come away with the ‘W’.”

Ernie Els won here at 31-under in 2003 - the previous PGA Tour record for shots under par.

While Smith became the fourth Australian to win the tournament, his compatriot Jones charged home with two eagles on the back nine in a sparkling 61 to grab third spot at 32-under par as he also took advantage of the favourable scoring conditions at the Kapalua Resort.

Jones backed up a 62 on Saturday with another stunning round on Sunday to set a PGA Tour record for the lowest two-round score. 

Other AAC alumni in the field in Maui were Australians Cam Davis (tied 10th) and Lucas Herbert (37th), Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (tied 13th) and Koreans Kim Si-woo (tied 23rd) and KH Lee (tied 33rd). Another Korean, Im Sung-Jae, shared eighth spot.