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sports Wednesday 16 March 2022
Cameron Smith making it harder to be overlooked

By DOUG FERGUSON on the 18th, with water all
AP Golf Writer the way down the left side.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. Smith didn't hesitate. Out
(AP) — The scoring was so came the driver to get
low at Kapalua that it was down the fairway as far as
easy to overlook the name he could. From the trees,
in the record book. he tried to punch out and
The play was so bold, bor- caught it more cleanly off
dering on fearless, at the the pine needles than he
TPC Sawgrass that Camer- expected, the ball scoot-
on Smith was impossible to ing across the short grass
ignore. and into the water.
Those two victories, differ- And then a big cheer: An-
ent in so many ways, are a irban Lahiri had birdied
big reason Smith is No. 6 in the 17th behind him. The
the world. He has a com- lead was down to two
fortable lead over Rory shots and the margin for
McIlroy and Justin Thomas error was shrinking. Smith
behind him in the ranking was 60 yards away playing
and is closing in on Scot- his fourth shot on the clos-
tie Scheffler and Patrick ing par 4. And he never
Cantlay ahead of him. flinched.
Never mind that he doesn't Cameron Smith, of Australia, holds the trophy after winning The Players Championship golf tourna- His lob wedge danced
resemble golf's elite. ment Monday, March 14, 2022, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. around the cup and settled
Smith hits short and crooked Associated Press 3 feet away for bogey.
off the tee, which has nev- "You have to tip your cap
er been a good combina- the Aussie meaning of The Players Champion- Already the most recog- at Cam, who played phe-
tion in any era of golf. True, toughness, particularly the ship was even more hec- nizable hole in America, nomenal golf," said Paul
he makes up for it with his Queenslanders. tic, minus the record scor- the par-3 17th hole and its Casey, who played along-
short game, particularly his "It's probably just never ing. There were 17 players island green take on new side in this wild ride. "He
putting. That much was evi- give up," Smith said. "I separated by three shots meaning in the final round won this tournament."
dent Monday at The Play- grew up watching rugby at one point in the middle of the richest tournament That's the joy Smith gets out
ers Championship when he league and watching the of the round. There was in the world, a $20 million of golf.
one-putted eight of the last Queenslanders come from trouble everywhere, even purse with $3.6 million go- It doesn't always work out
nine greens. behind. And even when it in the best conditions of the ing to the winner. in his favor. Bold shots he
That carried him to a re- got gritty, they'd somehow week. Smith led by two shots and didn't pull off cost him a
cord-tying 10 birdies in the manage to win. I think that's Smith had only one thought, stared across the water chance to win a World Golf
final round and a 6-under kind of instilled in all of us." and that was to be aggres- to an island, the hole 135 Championship and a Fe-
66, giving him a one-shot It was like that at the start of sive to the very end. yards away cut in the back dEx Cup playoff event last
victory in the biggest golf the year. Smith set the PGA He started by rolling in a 40- right portion of the green. year. But that's the thrill of it,
tournament this side of a Tour record to par when he foot birdie putt, the first of There is about 12 feet be- and he gets it right enough
major. won the Sentry Tournament four in a row that helped tween the flag and the wa- times to be among the best
But there is more to the of Champions at Kapalua take him from a two-shot ter, and Smith's 9-iron land- in the world.
28-year-old Australian that at 34 under. More than the deficit to a two-shot lead. ed somewhere between "My expectations are I
can't be measured by num- score, he had to go toe- And then he couldn't hit that space. wake up, go to the gym,
bers. And it's not his mullet, to-toe with Jon Rahm, a it where he was aiming, On purpose? The smile practice as hard as I can
which for the longest time power player from Spain leading to three straight would suggest otherwise. for a couple hours, and
was getting more attention and the No. 1 player in the bogeys. It was like that all "I was probably aiming 10 then go and have a good
than his golf. world. day. Smith had one par feet left of that," he said. time. That's it basically ev-
For Smith, it's all about the Rahm closed within one through 13 holes. "But still wanted to stay ery day," Smith said. "My
fight and the willingness to shot with seven holes to "And lots of good grinding aggressive, still wanted to expectation is to prepare
take on any shot. play, and Smith matched at the end," he said. make birdie." well and then kind of let ev-
He is the product of a work- him shot-for-shot the rest What stands out is the finish, That he did, holing a 4-foot erything fall into place from
ing-class family in Brisbane. of the way on a Plantation even if it was partly by ac- putt for a three-shot lead. there." There is a lot of fight
He was asked to describe course built for power. cident. Equally scary is the tee shot without too much stress.q

Brent Sass wins his 1st Iditarod sled dog

race across Alaska

By MARK THIESSEN Street and across the finish Sass, a wilderness guide
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) line just before 6 a.m. and kennel owner who was
— Musher Brent Sass won "It's awesome, it's a dream running in his seventh Iditar-
the arduous Iditarod Trail come true," Sass said with od. His previous best finish
Sled Dog Race across Alas- his beard and mustache was third last year.
ka on Tuesday as his team partially encrusted in ice This is the 50th running of
of 11 dogs dashed off the during the post-race inter- the race, which started in
Bering Sea ice through a view before he was pre- 1973. This year’s event be- Iditarod winner Brent Sass poses for photos with lead dogs Mo-
crowd of fans in downtown sented a prize-winning gan with 49 mushers, and rello, left, and Slater in the finish chute of the Iditarod Trail Sled
Nome. check of $50,000. five have dropped out Dog Race in Nome, Alaska, Tuesday March 15, 2022.
Associated Press
Sass mushed down Front It's the first Iditarod win for along the trail.q