10 January 2022: Kapalua was bleeding numbers, all week. Cameron Smith surfed the Hawaiian wave for a wire to wire victory with a commendable ride, despite a virulent chase from a relentless Jon Rahm and a prolific Matt Jones. The trio blasted their way to record breaking performances at the Plantation Course, with Jon Rahm also blasting his way to a course record 61 on Saturday along with Justin Thomas. Matt Jones kept the records tumbling, producing the third 61 this week, with a Sunday push that took him past the 2003 mark by Ernie Els, but still left him two short of the winning score.
Smith enjoyed the fruits of a consistent week. He shot 65 or better in every single round, securing a memorable victory in the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the traditional January event reserved for the champions from the previous season on the PGA TOUR. Thirty eight men made up the roster this week, with Jason Kokrak bringing up the rear at 7-under 285. Only Kokrak and Lucas Herbert (-8) failed to break double figures when eighteen golfers finished 20-under or better.
The leaders began the day locked at an astounding 26-under for 54 holes. And there was nothing to separate the two men till the final putt on the 72nd hole. Smith made four birdies on either stretch, while Rahm did the bulk of his work on the second nine, where he collected five of his seven birdies on the par-73 seaside course. Both men produced four birdies over the final six holes, including one each on the 18th to bring up a thrilling finish at Kapalua.
Jones came from the back all week. He started with a 70 and 67, reaching the weekend at nine-under. But a blistering 62 on Saturday and a forceful 61 on Sunday put the 41-year-old Aussie in the reckoning, but only just. Jones fired eagles on the 13th and 15th before finishing with birdies on the final two holes to go past Els previous record of 31-under on the same course.
30-under or better hasn’t been too common on the PGA TOUR. And each time a player shot that far, he managed to secure a comfortable victory. Els won by eight in 2003. Jordan Spieth, at the height of his powers in 2016, raced to an eight shot win as well when he shot 30-under in the same event in 2016. Dustin Johnson tore Liberty National apart in 2020 for a massive eleven stroke win, also at 30-under.
Smith though scraped home by one. “Mate, it was intense,” acknowledged Smith. “It was pretty crazy. I felt like I needed to make a birdie to kind of keep up with him or stay in front.”
Rahm appreciated the irony of his situation and sought to explain the rampant rush of scores. “This golf course only has one defense and that’s the wind,” Rahm said. “If people are shooting between 20 and 26 under with 20-mile-an-hour winds, what do you expect us to do when there’s absolutely no wind?”
The world No.1 has the distinction now of being runner-up with the low score to par without winning. At 32-under, he waltzed well past Bryson DeChambeau’s 27-under at the BMW Championship last year. The beefy American lost to Patrick Cantlay in a playoff on that occasion. Rahm also shot a record 32 birdies this week. That is about as many as ever made at a PGA TOUR event, emulating the 2001 feat of Paul Gow at the B.C. Open and Mark Calcavecchia in the Phoenix Open.
Smith collected his fourth career victory, two of which were Zurich Classic titles from team events. He has the Hawaii double though, joining Justin Thomas, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh as the only other men to win both the Sony Open and the Sentry TOC.
Leaderboard
Cameron Smith (-34)
Jon Rahm (-33)
Matt Jones (-32)
Patrick Cantlay (-26)
Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger (-25)
