Stewart Cink and son Reagan enjoying the moment. – photo Patrick Smith Getty
47-year old Stewart Cink provided one of the truly feel-good moments to date on the 2021 PGA Tour when winning the RBC Heritage Classic on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.
Cink led the event from the end of round two after his opening round of 63 on Thursday left him one behind Australia’s Cameron Smith. He would then add rounds of 63, 69 and 70 to finish at 19 under par and four ahead of Argentinean Emiliano Grillo and Harold Varner 111.
What made the week so special was that Cink had his 26-year old son Reagan on the bag as he had last September when winning the Safeway Open.
This week’s win was Cink’s third in this particular event having won in 2000 and 2004 and his 8th PGA Tour title, one of those coming at the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry when defeating the then 59-year old Tom Watson in a playoff for the event.
Cink described the benefit of leading at Harbour Town Links.
“I think you put your nose way out in front here, and it’s hard for the afternoon players to really get a lot of good momentum because the course has just got a lot of resistance to scoring late in the day.
“I can’t really explain why here it is that way so much, but it seems like it is. There’s low scores early but then in the afternoon — I knew if I played solid today that it would be really hard to get a lot closer.
“And I did, I played really solid, and it wasn’t spectacular yesterday or today, but today I was in play all day long.
“I did the job that I needed to do today to come away with a little bit of a cushion on the last few holes, which is such a pleasure to experience.
“It doesn’t happen to many people that many times in their career, but to walk down that fairway with a big lead and see that ball come up on dry land here on the 18th fringe with Reagan on the bag, and I knew Connor and Lisa were out there, it’s almost beyond words.”
Eighteen months ago, Cink played the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast and when asked his memory of the 2009 win at Turnberry when he could have been accused of shooting Bambi, given Watson was chasing his 6th Open Championship title at the age of 59, he responded;
“As it relates to Tom there is no particular moment that I have that’s a memory other than throughout the whole thing he was just perfectly gracious, just like you would expect any, you know, highly regarded champion to be. He couldn’t have been any nicer, and he was just as respectful of me as the winner as I would have been of him as the winner.”
Today, Cink’s playing partner Collin Morikawa summed up the winner and his relationship between Cink and his son which of course he observed at close quarters.
“Yeah, it’s awesome to see,” said the current PGA Champion. “To see how much he loves the game still and to see him and his son Reagan just enjoy it together, that’s what’s really cool. They’ve got these own little sayings that they say together that they just — they’ve got it going, and they have a really good vibe to it, so it’s really cool to see them put it through.”
It is a somewhat a resurgent Stewart Cink we are witnessing at present, his win last September his first in nearly 12 years and today hedescribed just how a more thorough on course strategy process was working.
“Well, it really started back in the fall when we had that win. I just don’t think anybody else picked up on it. We had already established that plan. We have not wavered from that plan except for about three or four tournaments where I missed the cut and I decided to double down on it, and it’s resulted in good finishes the last couple tournaments I’ve played in.
“We were doing it when Reagan started caddying. That’s actually one of the things that I implemented as a system of my own, and I knew Reagan would come along because he’s seen me play golf his whole life and he believes in what I do, and he was none the happier than to come in and help implement that system.
“And it worked at Safeway, it worked here this week. I look forward to the rest of the year with him caddying. I might just retire when he stops caddying. How can I top this?”
Cameron Smith recovered from a disappointing 2nd and 3rd rounds to record a final round of 65 to finish in a share of 9th while Cameron Davis had a solid week when 25th.
Can Cameron Smith add a second Zurich Classic title?
Cameron Smith in action this week – photo Stacy Revere Getty
Australia’s Cameron Smith has won two events on the PGA Tour but in 24 hours it might just be that he adds a third and, if he was to do so, two of those will have been the same event.
Pairing with Marc Leishman at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (a two ball teams event) Smith and his partner are just one behind the 54 hole lead held by Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel with the foursomes format to be played tomorrow.
Smith and Leishman added a third round of 63 in the fourball format today, the same score they recorded on day one when the fourball format was also in use.
Four years ago, Smith teamed with Jonas Blixt to win his first PGA Tour title and while his first individual win would come nearly three years later at the Sony Open in Hawaii, he is poised to potentially add yet another US$1 million + to his significantly growing bank account.
Both players contributed a similar amount of birdies on day three and although the foursomes format in tomorrow’s final round offers less opportunity for low scoring, they are a great chance to run down the leaders on day four.
Smith was asked after his round whether his win with Blixt in 2017 might assist tomorrow.
“I don’t think so. I mean, the course is so much different to what it was when we won,” he responded.
“Obviously we’ve both been up at the top of leaderboards a fair bit lately, so I think just on our own experiences I think that’ll help a lot. But we’ve just got to knuckle down and basically do what we did today. We played really good golf today.
Leishman summed up the day and the position they are in; “Well, I didn’t play my best golf on Friday. Found something on the range yesterday afternoon with particularly my wedges, and if I could play a little better — Cam is playing great, putting great.
“I’m feeling a lot better over the ball today than I did the first two rounds, so if I can play good, Cam keeps doing what he’s doing, I think we’re a good chance. But a lot can happen in foursomes, and so many other good players up at the top of the leaderboard.
“A lot has to go right, but hopefully we can do our job and make some birdies and give the guys ahead something to think about.”
Scores
Adam Scott’s Olympic Withdrawal Points to Deeper Issue
Adam Scott file photo
The news in the last 24 hours that Adam Scott has withdrawn from the possibility of representing Australia at the Olympics is no real surprise given he has been throwing out signals that, as was the case in 2016, he will put his family, his regular schedule and quest for higher status in the game ahead of an event that does not mean as much to him as others.
Marc Leishman will likely join Cameron Smith as the Australians in the men’s side of the Olympic golf event while Minjee Lee and Hannah Green are those most likely to represent Australia in the female competition.
I admire Scott’s stance on golf in the Olympics and while he might have been a little more interested in 2021 than was the case five years ago, he is clearly not swayed enough and is a man of his convictions.
Scott’s withdrawal and that of one or two of the game’s other elite players including current word number one, Dustin Johnson, (and there may well be more to come before late July) does, however, point to greater issue and whether the inclusion of golf in the Olympic games is relevant, necessary and justifiable.
I am someone who loves the game of golf and have lived it in various capacities, some professional, over the last 55 years and some of it at a very high level, but I have never been and never will be swayed by the argument of golf being part of the Olympics.
Sure, the golfing community will tell you how important it is by promoting the overused cliché of ‘growing the game’ as a result of golf’s inclusion.
I am of the belief however if golf can’t grow itself with the amazing amount of elite and regular events in both the men’s women’s games, both professional and amateur, and the incredible opportunity for exposure they get week in week out, perhaps golf needs look inwardly and just how it goes about growing the game itself.
Typically, on any given week in Australia, I can watch on television as many as six overseas events whereas the ‘lesser’ sports that have been so much of the foundation of the Olympic Games might get some exposure once every six months if they are lucky.
Relying on the funding that the Olympics provides to the grass roots of the game, or at least we hope that funding reaches the grass roots level, seems like a soft way out of taking advantage of the huge base the sport has developed over the last sixty years or so since golf became a highly popular televised sport even without the exposure the Olympics has provided.
I wonder how much of the money generated by the re-inclusion of golf in 2016 actually filtered through to the relevant bodies that run the game in various countries and, if so, does it actually reach the grass roots level?
If a gold medal at the Olympics is not the pinnacle of a sport then does that sport deserve to have a place in the four yearly sports festival for sports that, typically, do not get the level of profile that golf and tennis get on an almost weekly basis?
Does a winning of a gold medal make the champion the greatest player on the planet? It might for one week but very soon after there will be another event to again determine the best player in the game.
If a cyclist or a wrestler or a swimmer or a badminton player wins in Tokyo then they can rightly claim the mantle at the top of their sport for four years.
And while I would agree that the golf’s gold medal’s importance and status will likely grow if the event remains in the Olympics, it is hardly ever likely to reach the importance of a Green Jacket or a US Open (men’s or women’s) or Open Championship or a Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup for example.
There feels like an element of greed in golf’s long-time push for inclusion but to some extent it I think there is more in it for the Olympics than the game.
If the object of the golf’s exercise by being included in the Olympics is to fund the game’s growth then perhaps if it is to be included it should be focused on a level other than the elite of the game who perhaps feel (rightly or wrongly) they would rather be elsewhere.
I say leave the Olympics to the sports that most need and deserve it and let golf have its constant place in the sun and not muscle in on a four yearly spectacle that should be reserved for the sports that need exactly that and benefit most from it.
Golf’s roller coaster claims Lydia Ko in Los Angeles
Hannah Green the best of the Aussies – file photo Bruce Young
One week a seven-shot winner of an LPGA Tour event, the next a missed cut by two shots is the story of Lydia Ko’s last two weeks.
Today, Ko was able to follow up her surprising opening round of 78 at the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open at the Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles with a second round of 68 but she completed her opening 36 holes some 17 shots behind the tournament leader, Jessica Korda and will have the final 36 holes off.
Interestingly, Ko had heralded earlier in the week just how she would feel about such a situation.
“Like just because I shoot a 68 or 78, that shouldn’t dictate my mood and the way I am around the golf course,” she said on Tuesday
“I think there are some players, Inbee is probably one of them, where you don’t know what she’s shooting — and most of the time she’s shooting very low. But I think that’s the mindset you need to be in.
“Golf is golf, and I’m going to try my 100%, and after that, that’s it. So just have a good time, another beautiful time, and obviously we didn’t get to play this event last year, so good to be back.
“To say that my life was turned upside down after the win, I don’t think that is the truth. Obviously it was great just to be in contention and then end up winning. I think that settled some of the doubts I had in myself.”
Ko flys out on Saturday night to the first of two events in Asia, the opening one being the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore beginning next Thursday where hopefully the form she displayed in Hawaii last week can continue.
Korda leads the event by three over world number one Jin Young Ko with another shot back to the seemingly ever present, Sei Young Kim.
Hannah Green heads the Australians in a share of 6th place.
Green added a four-birdie second round of 67 to move within six of the lead and suggested after her round that her game is heading in the right direction.
“I’m definitely happy with my performance the last few weeks I’ve been a bit inconsistent, had a lot of bogeys on my card, and a lot of red colours on the scorecard, as well. It’s been nice to finish today bogey-free and hit a lot more greens today, which was nice.
“I feel like my game has been trending. I guess some people know that I’ve added a bit of length to my game, so it’s nice to come back to golf courses and it feels a little bit easier.
“I mean, I’ve been close to getting a couple top 10s the last few weeks, so I feel like I’ve had some good results here, I’ve had some good memories, so I’m hoping that I am in a good position by this afternoon.
“We’ll see what happens this afternoon with the scoring and the conditions, but it’s a little chillier than we’re probably used to here in LA, so it’s hard. The course is getting quite tough. The greens are really bouncy. I’m not really sure — Jess is obviously playing great, so it’s going to be hard to catch her, but we’ll see what happens.”
Gabi Ruffels is tied for 25th, Sarah Jane Smith 33rd, Sarah Kemp 42nd, Su Oh 53rd with Minjee Lee and Katherine Kirk 63rd and just making the cut.
Long wait ends for Australasia’s Japan Tour players
Brad Kennedy with his 2013 Kansai Open trophy
The long wait for a return to the Japan Golf Tour ends this Thursday for many of the Australasian contingent who regularly ply their trade there with eight teeing it up at the Kansai Open in Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture.
After more than 15 months when the few events played in Japan were available to only domestic players due to Covid constraints, several Australasians have emerged from a 14-day quarantine in the south of the country to play the A$700,000 event.
It might be one of the smallest purses on the Japan Golf Tour but it is a week that will bring heart to those who have had to miss playing on the regular basis they had previously.
Adam Bland, David Bransdon, Matt Griffin, Brad Kennedy, Anthony Quayle, Todd Sinnott and Dylan Perry are joined by New Zealand’s Mike Hendry to get their 2021 Japan Tour season underway.
Brad Kennedy appears to be the standout amongst that group having won this event in 2013, finished third in 2014 and runner-up in 2015 and given his recent success in claiming the recent PGA Tour of Australasia money list title there is reason to believe he could again do well.
The venue changes each year so there is no guarantee Kennedy will enjoy the Arima Royal Golf Club layout in Kobe to the same extent he did the earlier venues but there is little doubting his current form.
Resurgent Stewart Cink wins again at Harbour Town
Stewart Cink and son Reagan enjoying the moment. – photo Patrick Smith Getty
47-year old Stewart Cink provided one of the truly feel-good moments to date on the 2021 PGA Tour when winning the RBC Heritage Classic on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.
Cink led the event from the end of round two after his opening round of 63 on Thursday left him one behind Australia’s Cameron Smith. He would then add rounds of 63, 69 and 70 to finish at 19 under par and four ahead of Argentinean Emiliano Grillo and Harold Varner 111.
What made the week so special was that Cink had his 26-year old son Reagan on the bag as he had last September when winning the Safeway Open.
This week’s win was Cink’s third in this particular event having won in 2000 and 2004 and his 8th PGA Tour title, one of those coming at the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry when defeating the then 59-year old Tom Watson in a playoff for the event.
Cink described the benefit of leading at Harbour Town Links.
“I think you put your nose way out in front here, and it’s hard for the afternoon players to really get a lot of good momentum because the course has just got a lot of resistance to scoring late in the day.
“I can’t really explain why here it is that way so much, but it seems like it is. There’s low scores early but then in the afternoon — I knew if I played solid today that it would be really hard to get a lot closer.
“And I did, I played really solid, and it wasn’t spectacular yesterday or today, but today I was in play all day long.
“I did the job that I needed to do today to come away with a little bit of a cushion on the last few holes, which is such a pleasure to experience.
“It doesn’t happen to many people that many times in their career, but to walk down that fairway with a big lead and see that ball come up on dry land here on the 18th fringe with Reagan on the bag, and I knew Connor and Lisa were out there, it’s almost beyond words.”
Eighteen months ago, Cink played the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast and when asked his memory of the 2009 win at Turnberry when he could have been accused of shooting Bambi, given Watson was chasing his 6th Open Championship title at the age of 59, he responded;
“As it relates to Tom there is no particular moment that I have that’s a memory other than throughout the whole thing he was just perfectly gracious, just like you would expect any, you know, highly regarded champion to be. He couldn’t have been any nicer, and he was just as respectful of me as the winner as I would have been of him as the winner.”
Today, Cink’s playing partner Collin Morikawa summed up the winner and his relationship between Cink and his son which of course he observed at close quarters.
“Yeah, it’s awesome to see,” said the current PGA Champion. “To see how much he loves the game still and to see him and his son Reagan just enjoy it together, that’s what’s really cool. They’ve got these own little sayings that they say together that they just — they’ve got it going, and they have a really good vibe to it, so it’s really cool to see them put it through.”
It is a somewhat a resurgent Stewart Cink we are witnessing at present, his win last September his first in nearly 12 years and today hedescribed just how a more thorough on course strategy process was working.
“Well, it really started back in the fall when we had that win. I just don’t think anybody else picked up on it. We had already established that plan. We have not wavered from that plan except for about three or four tournaments where I missed the cut and I decided to double down on it, and it’s resulted in good finishes the last couple tournaments I’ve played in.
“We were doing it when Reagan started caddying. That’s actually one of the things that I implemented as a system of my own, and I knew Reagan would come along because he’s seen me play golf his whole life and he believes in what I do, and he was none the happier than to come in and help implement that system.
“And it worked at Safeway, it worked here this week. I look forward to the rest of the year with him caddying. I might just retire when he stops caddying. How can I top this?”
Cameron Smith recovered from a disappointing 2nd and 3rd rounds to record a final round of 65 to finish in a share of 9th while Cameron Davis had a solid week when 25th.
Austin Bautista records important result in Austria
File photo David Tease Golf NSW
New South Wales golfer, Austin Bautista, has finished 7th at the Austrian Open near Vienna, the 24-year old taking full advantage of an invite to play the European Tour event.
Bautista, who has status on Canada’s McKenzie Tour in 2021, recovered from disappointing opening round of 74 on Thursday, playing impressive golf over his closing 54 holes and although he finished seven shots from the playoff between John Catlin (winner) and Maximillian Kieffer, it was nonetheless an impressive effort in just his second European Tour event.
Bautista is currently ranked outside the top 1800 in the world so this represents a significant performance for the NSW/USA raised golfer, his career thus far limited to the occasional Korn Ferry Tour event and Pay for Play events in the US along with several PGA Tour of Australasia appearances.
The Bonnie Doon Golf Club member and former NSW Amateur Champion earns €20,000 euro which will no doubt assist as he looks to play more events in Europe ahead of a McKenzie Tour schedule.
Courtesy of his top ten finish this week the Bonnie Doon golfer earns a start in the European Tour’s Gran Canaria Lopesan Open in Spain starting Thursday.
Gold Coast based Victorian Deyen Lawson finished 33rd.
Scores
Lydia Ko cruises to 16th LPGA Tour title
Lydia Ko – back to her brilliant best – file photo
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko has today won her 16th LPGA Tour title but her first since the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship in 2018 and just her second in nearly five years with a seven-shot victory at the Lotte Championship in Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii.
Ko’s final round of 65 gave none of her chasers a chance, a back nine of 31 putting the final nail in the coffin of those hoping to chase her down.
Ko had finished runner-up to Cristie Kerr in this event in 2017 but after taking a one-shot lead over Nelly Korda into today’s final round she was never headed, extending her lead to four through nine holes, to five through ten before adding four further birdies and eventually cruising to victory over Korda, Inbee Park, Sei Young Kim and Leona Maguire.
Ko is back to what appears to be her best having finished runner-up on two occasions in four starts in 2021 prior to this win, the last of those at the recent ANA Inspiration Championship.
Ko’s victory will take her to the top of the 2021 money list on the LPGA Tour to $791,000, moving past Nelly Korda to do so but remains just behind Korda in the Race to the Globe standings.
The work Ko has been doing over the past twelve months or so with Tiger’s Woods former coach, Sean Foley, is now taking full affect and now that she has found her way back into the winner’s circle and, in the form she is in, it would seem more is to come.
“I think Sean has obviously helped a lot in the technical aspect, but he’s also been super helpful for me for a lot of things that goes on between the ears. He has been there to like slap me out of it if I’m not thinking right or over-complicating it. He’s kept it really simple for me.
“I think he’s just somebody that like has built up a lot of confidence, and I think at the end of the day the confidence and belief in yourself is the 15th club in the bag and almost the most important club.
“I think when that’s there you are able to play with a bit more freedom, and he’s really helped me with that. We’re continuously going to work on the same things. I know some days it’s not going to be good, but as long as I know and have a better understanding of my game, I think it just makes it a lot more simple.”
Ko has a new caddie on her bag this week but he (David Jones) has worked for her previously, this week’s arrangement also a one-off as Jones’ regular boss is not playing this week.
Ko’s regular caddie, Australian Jason Hamilton, will be back next week in Los Angeles for the next few events but he will be gutted to have missed such an important milestone for Ko.
“This was like a last-minute thing that I had to arrange, and luckily Sung Young wasn’t playing this week and she was kind enough to let me borrow Dave just for this week,” added Ko
“And Dave being somebody that I had worked with prior to this week, it makes it a little bit easier and a bit more comfortable. We’re not starting things from scratch.”
Hannah Green did best of the Australians when she finished 12th after staging a fine recovery from three bogeys to start her final round.
Stewart Cink races clear at RBC Heritage
Stewart Cink a five shot leader – photo Getty Images Sam Greenwood
Cameron Smith was unable to repeat his opening day brilliance at the RBC Heritage Classic in South Carolina but his second round of even par 71 has him at 9 under par and tied for 4th, although now seven shots from the lead held by two-time winner of the event Stewart Cink.
Cink, who finished a very encouraging 12th at last week’s Masters, added a second consecutive round of 63 today to lead by five over Canadian Corey Conners with another shot back to Argentinean, Emiliano Grillo.
Cink won this event on debut in 2000 and then again in 2004 although in more recent times his record around the Harbour Town Links layout has not been quite so good. He has not recorded a finish better than 30th in his last seven starts in the event but coinciding with his recent overall form improvement is a significantly better showing this week.
When asked how he is able to keep performing in what is his 22nd start in the event, Cink responded:
“I love playing golf, and the players I’m playing against aren’t getting worse, and that’s just the simplest answer. I don’t really want to stop doing this as a job, and the guys that come out here year after year get better and better, younger and younger, and they don’t make it any easier.
“So I have to continue getting more out of myself and managing myself different ways, and Reagan has been a huge help as far as that goes. To me it just feels like, duh, what other way is there.
The Reagan he is referring to is Cink’s son who is caddying for him at present and they seem to be gelling as a combination.
Reagan had his own thoughts on how it is working: “I think I call the shots. He listens to me most of the time. It’s a blast out there. We operate on the same wavelength pretty much all the time, so we get to joke around and have a great time in between shots, even when the stakes are pretty high and he’s playing really well. And then it’s efficient planning when we get to the shots, so it really works on a lot of levels.”
Cameron Smith – unable to keep pace after his brilliant start yesterday – photo Patrick Smith Getty Images
Smith was philosophical about his day. “Wasn’t actually too bad out there,” said the Queenslander. I think the golfing gods got a few back on me today. They let everything in yesterday, and today I thought I was putting really good and just had a lot of putts that went over the edge, didn’t go in.
”I’m pretty chilled out, to be honest. I just went and had pizza with my caddie last night and a couple beers and went to sleep, and woke up this morning feeling pretty fresh, ready to go this morning. Everything felt great on the range. It just wasn’t quite the day.”
Cameron Davis, the only other Australian in the field added a second consecutive round of 69 to be at 4 under and tied for 31st while New Zealander Danny Lee missed the cut by one, continuing a run of disappointing form in recent months.
World number one, Dustin Johnson, is at 5 under.
Tour hopefuls complete qualifying school
Former Hong Kong Open champion, Sam Brazel, comfortably through
The PGA Tour of Australasia has just completed its Final Stage of Qualifying School for the 2021 / 2022 season, 72 holes having been used to determine those who gain the right to play the Australasian Tour in the new season.
With Covid 19 having impacted on the scheduling of events and the tour school carried over from last December, the Open Course at Moonah Links played host over the last few days to an event which provides an all-important milestone for many wishing to ply their trade in the professional ranks.
The winner was Victorian Will Heffernan who completed the demanding Peter Thomson designed layout on the Mornington Peninsula at 5 under par, one shot ahead of Queensland’s Aaron Wilkin, NSW’s John Lyras and Victorian David Micheluzzi.
2020 Australian Amateur Champion, Jediah Morgan, from Queensland and Lismore’s Sam Brazel, tied for 5th.
Heffernan, who earned his 2020 Asian Tour card by finishing runner-up at that school early last year before Covid disrupted proceedings, will now have access to all events on the PGA Tour of Australasia over the next twelve months and, potentially, turn around a career which, for a range of reasons, has failed to build continuity since turning professional more than two years ago.
Some 35 players gained full status and another 15 or so earned partial status on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Perhaps highlighting the demands and roller coaster of professional golf is that players such as European Tour players, Sam Brazel and Jason Norris had to go through the process although both have comfortably gained the right to play the Australasian Tour once again.
The winner of Qualifying School will gain Tournament Exemption Category 9 for the duration of the 2021/22 season. This category is the equivalent of winning a Tier 2 Tournament with less than $400,000 on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.
Players then ranked up to 30 will be placed in Exemption Category 13 for the duration of the 2021/22 season.
While not guaranteed It is envisaged players in this category will gain a start in all events with prizemoney of lower than $400,000 as well as having a strong chance of gaining a start in a number of the larger prize money tournaments. (the higher up the category the better the chance). This category is included in the mid-year category re-rank of which the player’s performance in the first half of the season will determine their position for the remainder of the year.
Players finishing in positions 31-50 will be eligible to become Full Tournament Members of the PGA of Australia for the 2021/22 season, however, they will not hold an exemption category.
This will deem them eligible to enter Pro-Am events throughout Australia as well as pre-qualifying for ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Tournaments.
Scores
Cameron Smith takes lead at RBC Heritage
Smith in action today – photo Patrick Smith Getty
Cameron Smith, fresh from his top ten finish at last week’s Masters, leads after day one of the RBC Heritage Classic at Harbour Town Links on Hilton Head Island, the 27-year old’s opening round of 62 equaling the previous best opening round score set by his fellow countryman, Peter Lonard, and multiple winner of the event, Davis Love 111.
Smith’s nine birdie, bogey free round has him one ahead of 2004 champion Stewart Cink with Matt Wallace and Collin Morikawa another two shots back.
Perhaps the highlight of his round came at the 17th where he holed a bunker shot from behind the green to move to 8 under before yet another fine approach set up one final birdie.
Smith was quick to point out the more aggressive approach he was able to take around the greens this week compared to the fast and fiery Augusta National of last week.
“I mean, I feel like after last week, I feel like chipping around here is almost like a breeze,” said Smith. “I was so scared almost last week on every chip shot, and I feel like I can be really aggressive around here.
“Augusta, especially how I played last week was very stressful, I mean, you’re almost worried about every shot out there it seems like. After Sunday I drove back down to Jacksonville. I had a couple days at home.
“I drove up here Tuesday lunchtime, just played nine holes in the pro-am, and I feel like my game — I felt like my game was in a really good spot, so I didn’t feel like I needed to come here and really grind out a couple of good practice days. I felt like everything was in a good spot, and I think it paid off those couple days at home.
“This place really gets my creativity going into the greens. Especially there’s a couple of holes out there where you really have to shape it into the greens around trees, and if you’re in a bad spot off the tee, you just have to know where to miss it, especially with how firm the greens are out there.”
Cameron Davis, the only other Australian in the field, recovered from a slow start to his round of an opening 2 under 69 while New Zealander Danny Lee recorded a round of 68.