Cameron Smith survives late scare to win Players Championship

Australia’s Cameron Smith survived a late scare as he produced a rollercoaster final round of 66 to claim victory at the Players Championship in dramatic style.

The 28-year-old found the water on the 18th hole at TPC Sawgrass as he carded 10 birdies and four bogeys to finish on 13 under par, but overnight leader Anirban Lahiri was unable to make him pay as the three he needed to take it to a play-off eluded him.

Smith ultimately landed the $3.6million – around £2.77million – prize money, along with three-year exemptions to the Masters, US Open and the Open Championship, by a single shot with England’s Paul Casey, who had started the tournament with a triple bogey, a further shot behind in third.

Asked how much confidence he had in his putting, the Australian said: “That was probably the big key today, to be honest. It kept me in it.

“I made plenty of birdies. Had to make a lot of good par putts as well there at the end. And yeah, it’s definitely the strength of my game. Sometimes I maybe lean on it too much, but it’s nice to see them go in.”

An emotional Smith was watched by his mother Sharon and sister Mel, who he had not seen for more than two and a half years because of Covid travel restrictions.

He said: “It’s really cool to have them here. My main priority really was just to hang out with them and golf was second for these few weeks. It’s nice to see them and nice to get a win for them.”

Smith set the early pace with birdies at five of the first six holes to establish a two-shot lead at 12 under par, with Lahiri picking up only a single shot through five.

Norwegian Viktor Hovlund, whose belated completion of his third round had included a hole-in-one at the eighth, picked up where he had left off to head for the