Aussie golfer Cameron Smith birdied the fourth sudden-death playoff hole to seal victory for himself and partner Jonas Blixt at the weather-affected Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Tuesday morning (AEST).
MORE: Controversial PGA Tour golfer sends creepiest tweet of the year |
Smith made a clutch birdie putt to settle it on the par-five 18th hole to defeat Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown.
Both Smith and Blixt missed short birdie putts on the first additional hole. The two teams then halved with par on the second and third play-off hole, but Smith finally broke the deadlock with a birdie on the fourth extra hole.
Play was suspended for several hours on Monday (AEST) due to torrential rain. Smith and Blixt looked as if they were going to win in regulation as dusk started to settle, but Kisner dramatically chipped in for eagle on the 72nd hole to force a play-off.
Champions!
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 1, 2017
Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt win the @Zurich_Classic.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/Ty7ATcEblj
Smith and Blixt will earn two-year PGA Tour exemptions for the win, and FedEx Cup points. However, they, and everyone else in the field, will not earn any world ranking points.
For Blixt, this was his third PGA Tour win and it was Smith's first.
All in all, the team format added a bit of excitement to an event that had gone stale in recent years. Yet, the lack of world ranking points really made it feel like an exhibition at times.