Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt Win Zurich Classic in Monday Playoff Finish

The 72nd hole of the final round of the Zurich Classic ended in spectacular fashion on Sunday. Kevin Kisner chipped in for eagle from off the green in very dark conditions with teammate Scott Brown watching to force a Monday playoff with Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith in the first team event on the PGA Tour since 1981.

In the end, Blixt and Smith won the Zurich Classic on Monday morning, after several opportunities for both teams.

Here’s a quick rundown of the playoff.

Brown, Kisner and Smith all found the fairway on the 18th (the first playoff hole) with Blixt in the rough on the left. Blixt, Kisner, and Brown all played safely and found the short stuff with their second shots and Smith found a green side bunker. None of the players could hole their putt to secure a win with a birdie so the group went back to the 18th tee for a second time.

Brown’s approach into the green went long and he missed his birdie putt from the fringe. Smith missed his birdie putt as well leaving Blixt and Kisner to try and get a win.

Blixt’s putt barely missed just left.

Kisner followed by pushing his putt just right which sent the groups to the ninth tee for a third playoff hole.

All four players found the green, but Brown’s putt came up short and Kisner’s missed just below the hole. Smith was next to putt and he pulled it left of the hole leaving Blixt with about a five-footer for the win which he pushed right and the teams headed back to the 18th for the fourth playoff hole.

Kisner, Brown, and Blixt all put their shots on the green and then Cameron Smith stuck his at around two feet leaving himself with a makeable birdie opportunity.

Both Brown and Kisner missed their birdie opportunities and Cameron Smith drained his to collect the first PGA Tour victory of his career. This is Blixt’s third PGA Tour win.

On top of Smith earning himself a two-year exemption with his first PGA Tour win, both are now in the field for the Players Championship.

Notes

– While the team format was a little slow on Thursday and Friday, it worked out on the weekend when the leaders were grouped together and Zurich organizers couldn’t have asked for a better finish on Sunday. The problem for fans on the course was the separation between groups. Normally on the weekends there will be two guys coming through each hole quite quickly, but with four guys playing each hole at the same time the spacing between groupings made following multiple players difficult.

– This is the second runner-up finish this season for Kevin Kisner, the other came at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He now has five second place finishes over the last three years.



from The Big Lead http://ift.tt/2ql933U
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