Cameron Smith Wins Australian PGA Championship

Preventing Ranking Drop by Earning World Ranking Points

Smith playing in front of Australian fans.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Tae-won Choi] Cameron Smith (Australia) won the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) Fortinet Australian PGA Championship (total prize money 2 million Australian dollars). With this victory, Smith is expected to prevent a drop in his world ranking for the time being.

World No. 3 Smith shot a 3-under-par 68 in the final round of the Australian PGA Championship (total prize money 2 million Australian dollars) held on the 27th at Royal Queensland Golf Club (par 71) in Brisbane, Australia, finishing with a total score of 14-under-par 270 to claim the title.

Smith earned world ranking points for the first time in a while with this tournament win. After moving from the PGA Tour season finale to the LIV Golf Series Invitational, Smith had not received world ranking points and had dropped from 2nd to 3rd in the world rankings.

Starting the final round tied for the lead by 3 strokes, Smith briefly lost the lead to Jason Scrivener (Australia) early on but regained sole possession of first place with consecutive birdies on holes 12 and 13. Scrivener recorded a double bogey on the 17th hole (par 3), effectively ending his chances of winning.

Smith, who won this tournament consecutively in 2017 and 2018, claimed the title again after four years, marking his third overall win at this event.

Scrivener, who carded eight birdies, two bogeys, and one double bogey for a 4-under-par 67, finished tied for 2nd place (11-under-par 273) alongside Ryo Hisatsune (Japan), who also shot 6-under.

Korean-Australian Min-woo Lee shot 2-under-par 69 to finish tied for 4th place (9-under-par 275). Jeong-hoon Wang (29) recorded a 3-under-par 68, finishing tied for 48th place (3-under-par 283).