PONTE VEDRA BEACH , Fla. — Cameron Smith hails from Australia but calls Jacksonville home.
A flight of more than 18 hours from his native Brisbane limits visits with his family to twice a year in the best of times. The pandemic put even more time and distance between the Smiths.
But the 2022 Players Championship winner rose to the occasion Monday to deliver the PGA Tour’s ultimate prize during a long-awaited reunion with his “mum” Sharon and sister Melanie nearly 2½ years in the making.
A one-shot victory over India’s Anirban Lahiri at 13-under 275 left Smith fighting back tears. The 28-year-old’s emotions had little to do with golf.
In fact, Smith essentially took a week off before earning a career-changing win.
“They came over last week, and golf really took a back step, I guess,” Smith said. “I hadn’t seen them for so long and all I wanted to do was hang out with them. It’s so cool to get a win for them.”
Prevailing on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass gave the victory added significance.
Smith lives four miles down the road and is a regular on the back of the practice range. Rarely does he tee it up to gain a true feel for the course or plot a strategy, given how much conditions change during tournament week.
“It’s typically just sets up a little bit softer and a little bit slower,” Smith said. “I thought moving here originally it would be a huge advantage, but I found out after a few missed cuts in a row that it maybe wasn’t.
“You don’t realize how tight this place is until you have to hit a shot. When you’re playing hit-and-giggle with your mates, it can be easy at times, but it’s a different beast.”
Smith tamed designer Pete Dye’s layout Monday for a 6-under 66.
The roller-coaster round included 10 birdies, highlighted by two stretches of four straight, a mid-round hiccup featuring three consecutive bogeys, and 13 one-putts, the shortest a 3-footer for bogey on the 72nd hole.
Standing in the fairway and needing a birdie, Lahiri’s approach from 160 yards came up well short and right of the pin. His pitch shot finished a foot left of the hole.
“I’ve been here seven years; haven’t gotten over the line yet,” said Lahiri, 34. “That’s definitely a monkey I want to get off my back. Today was as good an opportunity as any.”
Lahiri was far from discouraged. He arrived Thursday No. 322 in the world rankings and searching for his game but left with $2.2 million.
Smith is $3.6 million richer after earning the Tour’s biggest check. He had no idea what he would buy but knew his immediate plans.
“Sleep,” he said. “I feel like I haven’t slept in five or six days. It’s obviously been a long week. I’m sure there will be a few beers around the fire tonight, but yeah, I can’t wait for a good sleep.”
The Tour’s showcase event required five days to complete and overcame multiple weather delays. Those who finished their first round Thursday did not tee it up again until Sunday. Most golfers on the other side of the draw needed three days to complete their opening 18 holes.
True to form, a downpour greeted the leaders as they began the final nine holes even though the forecast did not call for rain.
The tips of Smith’s signature mullet were soaked as was his pink shirt, but he remained aggressive and birdied holes 10, 11, 12 and 13.
Few could keep pace with Smith.
With six holes to go, the tournament was a four-man race among Smith, Lahiri, Paul Casey and Keegan Bradley.
Bradley flinched first, coming unglued on the final two holes — the signature par-3 17th island hole and the brutal par-4 18th.
Bradley three-putted 17. He then followed a drive well right of the 18th fairway with a bold shot through the pines that screamed across the fairway into the water to end his chances for his first win since the September 2018 BMW Championship.
“Man, I’m so bummed out,” Bradley said. “That was tough.”
Meanwhile, Casey’s chances for the biggest win of his career ended with a bad break.
After Smith pulled his drive well into the pine straw left of the 16th fairway, Casey piped his drive down the middle of the fairway. But the ball rolled into a deep mark cause by a previous drive. Relief was not awarded, preventing Casey for going for an eagle 3 and he settled for a par.
The 43-year-old Englishman nearly pulled off the Velcro on his glove as he walked to the green.
“That wasn’t very good luck, was it?” he said. “Deep down I wanted to go for it out of that lie, but it felt too risky. I thought I could still make birdie, and then who knows what happens over the last two?
“It’s a shame. It was the best drive I hit all day.”
Smith appeared to put Casey out of his misery on No. 17, boldly stiffing his iron shot to 4 feet left of the hole to set up his final birdie.
“I‘d be lying if I said I was aiming there,” Smith said with a smile. “I was probably aiming 10 feet left of that.”
Seeming in a command with a 2-shot lead, Smith — similar to Bradley — hit his second shot from the pine straw across the fairway and into the water left of the 18th fairway. A 58-yard pitch to 3 feet effectively sealed the win and showcased the 28-year-old’s short-game wizardry a final time.
Behind nerve, soft hands and competitive fire, Smith became the fifth Australian to win the Players, joining two-time winners Greg Norman and Steve Elkington along with Adam Scott and Jason Day.
“Obviously lots of great Australian golfers have won here, but the best that have ever lived have won here as well,” Smith said. “So it’s pretty cool to have the name on the same trophy as them.”
