Open champion Cameron Smith played in his hometown of Brisbane to win the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship by three strokes.
Smith, 29, held a three-shot lead on the night and finished with a three-under round of 68 to finish on 14 under and secure the title for the third time.
The world number three had four birdies and a bogey on his final lap.
It was enough to meet the challenge of Japanese Ryo Hisatsune and fellow Australian Jason Scrivener.
Hisatsune clocked a final round 65 to move from 11th place overnight while England’s John Parry tied the final round of the Japanese player at six under par to move from joint 20th to fourth place with the ‘Australian Min Woo Lee.
“It’s great. I really didn’t think I had it in me at the start of the week,” said Smith, who won the tournament in 2017 and 2018 and was playing in his home country for the first time in three year.
“I was a little nervous and the game got better as the week progressed except for the top nine today.”
He also paid tribute to his grandmother, who walked the 72 holes of the Royal Queensland course with him as a spectator despite recently undergoing chemotherapy.
“I can’t believe she did it,” he said. “Everyone at the start of the week was telling him to calm down. It’s pretty amazing and really inspiring.”
Black-smith announced in august that he joined the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series.
