No sweat for Cam
Australian Smith takes first round lead in sweltering heat
Smith soars with eightbirdie blitz Australia’s Cameron Smith lining up his putt at the 18th hole during the first round of the CIMB Classic at the TPC Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Smith carded a flawless eight-under 64 to seize the first-round lead. The world No. 151 fired eight birdies, including three in his last five holes, to lead by a shot from Thailand’s Poom Saksansin and Americans Xander Schauffele and Keegan Bradley.
AUSTRALIAN Cameron Smith began his US PGA Tour journey at the CIMB Classic three years ago.
And he marked his Asian Tour debut with an impressive joint fifth finish.
That result led to several more starts, including finishing joint fourth at the 2015 US Open, en route to securing a dream membership of the world’s most prestigious Tour.
Yesterday, the US$7mil (RM29.5mil) CIMB Classic saw the best of Smith again as the 24-year-old kicked off his third full season on the PGA Tour in style as he carded a flawless eight-under 64 to seize the first-round lead at the TPC Kuala Lumpur.
The world No. 151 fired eight birdies, including three in his last five holes, to lead by a shot from Thailand’s Poom Saksansin and Americans Xander Schauffele and Keegan Bradley.
Two-time runner-up Gary Woodland, Kevin Na and Pat Perez, all from the United States, shared fourth with identical six-under 66.
“It was pretty simple really, hit a lot of good
shots today and made a lot of good putts,” said Smith, who finished 46th on the FedEx Cup standings, of his round.
“The putting was made pretty easy actually. Ball striking today stood out for me, so it was a good round.”
While the heat was too much for some, Smith said the hot and humid conditions got the best out of him.
“I enjoy the heat. I always play well in the heat for some reason. I honestly can’t tell you
why,” he explained.
“I grew up in Brisbane. It’s kind of similar (the weather) to this but obviously not as bad as this.”
This is the first time that Smith has taken a first-round lead in his PGA Tour career.
And he’s hoping to use the solid start as a launchpad to a second PGA Tour victory.
He won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans – a team event – with partner Jonas Blixt of Sweden in April.
Schaufelle, meanwhile, continued from where he left off – after winning the season-ending Tour Championship in Georgia three weeks ago.
The 23-year-old PGA Tour Rookie of the Year also returned a bogey-free card of seven birdies to share second spot with fellow debutant and two-time SEA Games gold medallist Poom and Bradley, who finished sixth last year.
“It was boring, which I guess is a good thing out here. Hit a lot of fairways and kind of made an easy day out of it,” said Schaufelle.
“The rough has been up apparently compared to last year, that’s what Justin (Thomas, who played in the same flight) told me. I pretty much tried to copy everything he did because I figured he’s a good guy to imitate out here.”
Thomas began his three-peat bid and FedEx Cup defence with a modest start – carding a two-under 72 to be joint 23rd.
Brendan Steele, coming off of his successful title defence at the Safeway Open last Sunday, shot a 67 and is three off the lead with five others, including India’s Anirban Lahiri and 53-year-old Hall of Famer Davis Love III.