USA TODAY International Edition
Leishman, Smith win in Orleans
AVONDALE, La. – Never say you’re sorry.
That is one of the cardinal rules of team golf and one that caddie Matt Kelly ingrained into the head of his boss Marc Leishman and his partner, Cameron Smith, at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the only two- man team format competition during the 50 events that make up the PGA Tour 2020- 21 season.
Kelly made a special yardage book with a green cover and gold lettering, fittingly the colors of the Australian national flag, and on the front cover stitched the words that became the team mantra: “There’s no saying sorry.”
Those words took on extra meaning Sunday when Smith steered his tee shot to the left at the par- 4 16th hole and it bounced into a pond. In the alternateshot format, Leishman had to hit next after a penalty stroke and stepped up and chipped in for birdie from 23 feet to regain a share of the lead at 21 under. The Aussies needed one extra hole to break the tie with South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, winning with a par at the 18th hole after Oosthuizen drove into the water that lines the right side of the hole.
“It was a pretty cool week,” said Smith, who earned his third PGA Tour title, all in playoffs. “The back nine was brutal and we hung in there.”
The Aussies, who won on Anzac Day, a holiday celebrated back home to honor the sacrifices made by its Armed Forces, built a two- stroke lead through 11 holes, but it would be a back- and- forth affair down the stretch as Smith and Leishman made bogeys at Nos. 13 and 15. That combined with a 15- foot birdie putt by Schwartzel at 15 and the South Africans were in the driver seat at 21 under.
Oosthuizen, who has won 14 times around the world but never won on U. S. soil, and Schwartzel, who hasn’t hoisted a trophy on the PGA Tour since the 2016 Valspar Championship, were trying to join recent winners Jordan Spieth and Hideki Matsuyama in ending victory droughts. It looked as if the South Africans might coast when Smith’s tee shot at 16 bounced into the pond. But Smith, who won this event in a playoff in 2017 with a different partner, never said sorry and Leishman examined the uphill lie after his drop and liked his chances. Using the power of positive thinking, he told Smith and Kelly he was going to hole it.
“Not that I believed it,” he said. Leishman pumped his right fist and high- fived with Kelly and Smith as the crowd, which was limited to a maximum of 10,000 this week, erupted.
Both teams made bogey at the par- 3 17th hole. Pars at the last meant a finalround 2- under 70 for the Aussies, one better than their South African opponents, and they tied with a 72- hole aggregate of 20- under 268. Peter Uihlein and Richy Werenski matched the low round of the day with 67 to finish alone in third at 19 under.
The playoff lacked the drama of the final few holes as Oosthuizen pushed his tee shot into the water.