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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — All day, Cameron Smith was in control.
The 28-year-old Australian with the stringy mullet was in control of his game.
He was in control of the rest of The Players Championship field in Monday’s final round at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course.
And he was in control of his emotions.
Even when he created a few queasy moments for himself, letting some players back into the tournament with a gaffe or three along the way, Smith remained in control right up to the post-tournament awards ceremony when he was reminded about the presence of his mother, Sharon, and sister Melanie.
Until this week, Smith, who makes his home in Jacksonville Beach, hadn’t seen either of them for more than two years because of the strict COVID-19 travel restrictions back home in Australia.
“I haven’t seen them in two years,’’ Smith said with his voice cracking and his eyes tearing up. “They came over last week and golf really took a back step. I hadn’t seen them for so long and all I wanted to do was hang out with them. It’s so cool to get a win for them.’’
Smith, who in January won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii at 34-under par, did it a different way during this trying week at Sawgrass, where a series of weather delays coupled with one of the most difficult golf courses in the world turned this thing into survival of the fittest as the tournament bled into a fifth day Monday.
He finished 13-under par, one shot better than Anirban Lahiri, who was trying to become only the second player from India ever to win a PGA Tour event, and won $3.6 million.
Smith shot a very-eventful 6-under-par 66 in Monday’s final round, which included a record-tying 10 birdies. He one-putted eight of his final nine holes to stave off Lahiri (12-under), Paul Casey (11-under), Kevin Kisner (10-under) and Keegan Bradley (9-under) among other challengers.
He seized the lead early in his round with birdies on his first four holes and five of the first six.
The beauty of his round, though, was how Smith rebounded from his several wobbly moments — the hairiest of which came on the 18th hole, where he pushed his drive into the pine straw to the right of the fairway and punched his second shot too hard, rolling it into the water.
A Lahiri birdie on the par-3 17th hole behind him had reduced Smith’s lead to two shots. Smith then made a nervy up-and-down for bogey, leaving Lahiri to have to birdie 18 to force a playoff.
Lahiri hit his tee shot to the center of the fairway, but followed that with a poor approach that landed short of the green. His attempt to chip in for birdie stopped about 2 feet short of the cup and Smith was champion, hugging his mother and sister.
“I was obviously very frustrated at myself,’’ Smith said of the mistake on 18. “For somewhat of an easy chip shot, probably the easiest shot I had all day, to hit it in the water was quite frustrating. [I] just bounced back really nice and proud of the way I hung in there.’’
Lahiri was visibly distraught after his muffed approach shot.
“I hit such a good drive,’’ he said. “I didn’t turn through [the second shot] and I kind of hung it out a little bit and it didn’t come back. That was disappointing, because I couldn’t have put myself in a better position.’’
Lahiri, who’s never won on the PGA Tour, was both crushed by not winning and buoyed by being in contention in such a massive tournament.
“I’ve been here seven years [and] haven’t gotten over the line yet,’’ he said. “That’s definitely a monkey I want to get off my back. Today was as good an opportunity as any. But I gave it a good go.
“I’ve gone through two years of playing horrible,’’ he went on. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in this position and since I’ve played in this position in a quality field like this. This is huge, because when you go through such a lean period for such a long time, you start asking yourself, ‘Man, was that a flash in the pan? What are you doing? You haven’t played good in so long.’
“Your belief takes a hit.’’
Smith, who elevated to No. 6 in the world rankings, performed like a player who had more belief than anyone in the field.
“I feel as though I’m playing the best that I’ve ever played,’’ he said. “I was hitting the ball really well. I felt really confident with my irons. My driver got a little bit skewy the last kind of 12 holes, but was able to kind of scramble around and hit really good iron shots when I needed to. I felt as though I had it under control.’’
Right up until his emotions took over when he saw his mother and sister at the end of the day.
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