How Cameron Smith won in 2022
Cameron Smith made 10 birdies in the final round and survived four bogeys to win by one stroke with a 66. Smith, who started the final round two back, birdied the first four holes and added another on No. 6. He proceeded to bogey the next three holes, but quickly rebounded with four straight birdies starting at the 10th. The wild ride continued with one-putt pars on 14 and 15 and a par 5 on the 16th with a long third shot to the green after a drive into the trees and a punch-out. He birdied the 17th from four feet to go ahead by three, but it became two when Anirban Lahiri birdied 17 behind him. Smith was in trouble on 18 when he drove to the right and his punch shot recovery went in the water. He saved bogey thanks to a pitch to three feet and took the trophy when Lahiri parred the final hole.
- Smith ranked last in Driving Accuracy among the 70 players who made the cut, hitting 24 of 56 fairways, and 68th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (-1.293 per round).
- Smith ranked first in Strokes Gained: Putting (2.880 per round) and first in Putts Per Round (25.5). In the final round, he made a 39-foot putt on the first hole and seven putts of between eight and 14 feet.
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- Cameron Smith became the fifth Australian to win THE PLAYERS, joining Steve Elkington (1991, 1997), Greg Norman (1994), Adam Scott (2004) and Jason Day (2016).
- Smith and Patton Kizzire both made 10 birdies in the final round, tying the tournament record for most birdies in a round (Justin Thomas/2015, Colt Knost/2016).
- Smith’s four pars in the final round ties the fewest for a winner in the last 30 years (Corey Conners/2019 Valero Texas Open).
- Smith became the third winner of THE PLAYERS in the ShotLink era (2003-present) to lead the field in Strokes Gained: Putting, joining Tim Clark (2010) and Webb Simpson (2018).
- Dustin Johnson shot a 63 in the final round to match the tournament 18-hole record now shared by nine players (also Fred Couples/1992, Greg Norman/1994, Roberto Castro/2013, Martin Kaymer/2014, Jason Day/2016, Colt Knost/2016, Webb Simpson/2018, Brooks Koepka/2018).