Cameron Smith wins Tournament of Champions, setting record

This 4th PGA success is deserved for Smith, who led after each of the four laps, and returned a card of 65 (-8) to finally accumulate -34. He thus erased from the shelves the performance of South African Ernie Els who had won the same tournament in 2003, with a total of -31. Further proof of the level displayed by the plateau on the island of Maui, having offered ideal playing conditions throughout, Rahm with -33 and the Australian Matt Jones, who finished in third place, with -32, after having returned a card of 61 (tournament record tied), also did better than Els.

«Jon and I played well all day, Matt in the front group was sending all over the place… It was an unreal ride, something I’ll never forget for sure. Between us earlier, we said to ourselves that we wanted to reach the -35 shots. We came close, it’s a disappointment, but it’s especially great to come away with the victorySmith commented. The 28-year-old, originally from Brisbane, had indeed contained the current best golfer Jon Rahm, who had glued to his side at the top of the standings the day before. And if he never released the pressure, the Spaniard, winner of the last US Open, just birdie less than Smith (7 against 8).

«It’s really weird to have a day at -7 and almost whine because it could have been so much better. In the end, I played a really good golf, I had a good score, I finished at -33 and I still lost by one point. It’s a bittersweet feeling», Reacted Rahm. However, it is difficult to harbor regrets when the opponent who beats you has committed no bogey on his last 51 holes …

Classification after the 4th round (par 73):

1. Cameron Smith (AUS) -34 (65-64-64-65)
2. Jon Rahm (ESP) -33 (66-66-61-66)
3. Matt Jones (AUS) -32 (70-67-62-61)
4. Patrick Cantlay (USA) -26 (66-67-66-67)
5. Daniel Berger (USA) -25 (66-66-66-69)
. Collin Morikawa (USA) -25 (68-70-67-62)
. Justin Thomas (USA) -25 (74-67-61-65)