Australian Cameron Smith won his second event of the season by capturing The 2022 Players Championship. His third victory in the last 12 months, Smith is quickly establishing himself as one of the world’s best players and Australia’s shining star! Thanks to two clutch shots on 17 and 18 at TPC Sawgrass, Smith held off Anirban Lahiri by one stroke.

A Monday Like No Other

Cameron Smith made ten birdies and four bogeys in route to shooting a final round 66—perhaps none more important than his amazing shot on 17 to set up another birdie.

He got to 18 with a two-shot lead and hit an uncharacteristically poor drive to the right and into the pine straw. He would then hit a low runner to keep under the tree branches but unfortunately, his ball found the water short and left of the green. He was forced to take a drop and a penalty shot, but then proceeded to hit his approach shot to two feet to save bogey and prevent giving up the lead on the 72nd hole of the tournament!

The Weather

The real story of the week was the weather. With terrible rain, crazy winds (40 mph gusts), and drastic temperature changes of 50 degrees, the players were really put through the ringer. The first round wasn’t concluded until mid-day Saturday. Friday’s second round was completely postponed. Somehow though, they were able to jam-pack three-and-a-half rounds of golf into two-and-a-half days and still able to finish the tournament on Monday.

The early round on Saturday morning was absolute carnage with gusts up to 40 mph and sustained winds in the 20-30 mph range. Four of the top ten players in the world put balls in the water at 17 on Saturday! In total, 29 balls ended up in the water from the field on Saturday, the second-highest total ever for the four-day tournament.

Keegan Bradley said he had never played in anything like that wind before. On one shot, he was straight into the headwind and hit a well-struck 9-iron from 95 yards, and just a few holes later, faced with a 208-yard approach shot but with a tailwind, he hit the same 9-iron!

Rounding Out the Top 10

As mentioned earlier, Anirban Lahiri likely had his most impressive week yet on tour and finished in solo second at -12 under par. Paul Casey finished in third place at -11 under par—though he was tied for the lead until he had a bit of bad luck at 16 in his final round as his perfect drive came to rest in a pitch mark from another player earlier in the day.

The rules of golf allow you to take relief on plugged balls if the impression happens as a result of the ball coming into contact with the pitch mark on its own accord. However, this ball was rolling down the fairway and came to rest in this pitch mark—thus no relief was allowed. This forced Casey to layup on the par 5 instead of going for the green in two and ultimately ended his chances of capturing the title.

Kevin Kisner, Keegan Bradley, Harold Varner III, Russell Knox, Doug Ghim, Sepp Straka, Adam Hadwin, Viktor Hovland, and Dustin Johnson rounded out the rest of the top ten. Dustin Johnson has had somewhat of a slow start to the season but very casually tied the TPC Sawgrass course record Monday with a 63—the lowest score of the week!

What’s in Cameron Smith’s Bag?

• Driver: Titleist TSi3 (Fujikura Ventus Blue 6X Shaft) – 10 Degrees Loft

• 3-Wood: Titleist TSi2 (Fujikura Ventus Blue 8X Shaft) – 15 Degrees Loft
• 7-Wood: Titleist TS2 (UST Mamiya Elements Red 8F5 X Shaft) – 21 Degrees Lofts
• Irons: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi 3-Utility (KBS Tour 130 Matte Black X Shaft); Titleist T100 5-9 Iron (KBS Tour 130 Matte Black X Shaft)

• Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (46-10F, 52-08F, 56-08M, 60-10S – KBS Tour 130 Matte Black X Shaft)
• Putter: Scotty Cameron 009M Tour Prototype
• Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

A Look Ahead

The Tour travels to Innisbrook Resort next week for the Valspar Championship. Nicknamed “The Snake Pit,” Innisbrook always delivers drama on Sunday, similar to The Players Championship! We are also officially less than a month to go ‘til The Masters! I can imagine a few of these players that finished inside the Top 10 hope to ride the momentum from this crazy week to a high finish at the season's first Major!

Stay tuned for additional PGA Tour coverage, and of course, if you have any questions about any of Cam Smith’s clubs or any golf gear in general, don’t hesitate to reach out to me or any other Golf Expert here on Curated!