By Tony Webeck

Cameron Smith has closed out his PGA TOUR season with a payout in excess of half a million dollars but it was heartbreak for West Australian Curtis Luck at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in Indiana.

The culmination of the two main tours for men in the US saw riches realised and dreams come true as Smith shot a final round of 1-under 69 to end the FedEx Cup Playoffs in a three-way tie for 14th while Lucas Herbert officially received his card to join the PGA TOUR next season.

Starting the week at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta in fifth position, Smith was holding firm at the halfway mark but fell to a tie for 13th with a third round of 3-over 73.

He dropped one further position on Sunday as Patrick Cantlay held off Jon Rahm to claim the $US15 million prize pool by a single stroke and could console himself with a cheque for $US583,750 and a 2020/2021 season total of $US6,435,617.

“It’s been pretty good. Been really good of late, just a bit of a shame this week,” Smith said when asked to sum up his season that included a win at the Zurich Classic, two runner-up finishes and eight top-10s.

“I just didn’t hit my driver good enough. You need to hit the fairways around here to make a score. East Lake hasn’t really been my friend in the past. It still isn’t.”

“My short game, especially my scoring irons are still unreal. Just the longer stuff that I really need to get better at.”

Given the hectic finish to the season that included representing his country at the Tokyo Olympics last month, Smith now intends to spend a few weeks unwinding with a little help from his father, Des.

“I’ve got five weeks off and my old man has come over from Australia, so lots of fishing and lots of sitting down and a few beers in there as well,” he added.

“I’m going to play three or four in the fall, a couple in Vegas for sure and thinking about Houston and RSM.

“Pretty mellow.”

The next season of the PGA TOUR kicks off next week in California at the Fortinet Championship where Lucas Herbert can join the field as a full member for the first time.

Tied for 45th at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship saw the Victoria end the Finals in 14th position and secure one of the 25 PGA TOUR cards on offer.

Curtis Luck began the week in 24th position but a missed cut saw him fall to 31st and a return to the Korn Ferry Tour next year while Aaron Baddeley (36th) and Rhein Gibson (50th) will have limited status on the main tour.

The leader at the halfway mark, Min Woo Lee fell to a tie for 12th at the European Tour’s DS Automobiles Italian Open in Rome, Dimi Papadatos and Kiwi Josh Geary both finished inside the top 10 at the British Golf Challenge on the Challenge Tour while Stephanie Kyriacou remains second on the Ladies European Tour points list after finishing tied for 14th at the Creekhouse Ladies Open in Sweden.

Results

PGA TOUR

TOUR Championship

East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia

Winner Patrick Cantlay  67-66-67-69—269         $US15m

T14      Cameron Smith 68-68-73-69—278         $583,750

European Tour

DS Automobiles Italian Open

Marco Simone GC, Rome, Italy

Winner Nicolai Hojgaard           66-69-65-71—271         €485,330

T12      Min Woo Lee    64-68-71-73—276         €47,153

T52      Scott Hend        65-74-70-75—284         €11,142

MC       Wade Ormsby   72-71—143

WD      Maverick Antcliff           69-69—138

Japan Golf Tour

Fujisankei Classic

Fujizakura Country Club, Yamanashi

Winner Shugo Imahira   71-69-68-64—272         ¥22m

T20      Anthony Quayle 73-70-71-71—285         ¥1.216m

T59      Scott Strange    72-74-73-78—297         ¥255,200

MC       Todd Sinnott     73-74—147

MC       David Bransdon 74-79—153

MC       Dylan Perry       80-77—157

Korn Ferry Tour

Korn Ferry Tour Championship

Victoria National Golf Club, Newburgh, Indiana

Winner Joseph Bramlett            70-68-65-65—268         $US180,000

T20      Danny Lee        73-67-70-70—280         $10,619

T41      Rhein Gibson    74-69-69-71—283         $4,900

T45      Lucas Herbert   75-68-72-69—284         $4,550

T64      Greg Chalmers  73-67-78-71—289         $3,970

T64      Aaron Baddeley 72-72-76-69—289         $3,970

MC       Brett Drewitt    75-72—147

MC       Curtis Luck        72-76—148

Challenge Tour

British Challenge Presented by Modest! Golf Management

The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, England

Winner Hugo Leon        65-66-69-69—269         €33,547

T7        Josh Geary        69-70-68-66—273         €5,283

T7        Dimitrios Papadatos      68-69-69-67—273         €5,283

T15      Blake Windred  68-70-71-66—275         €3,145

T18      Daniel Hillier     73-68-68-67—276         €2,516

T49      Daniel Gaunt     72-69-70-72—283         €901

MC       Deyen Lawson  72-73—145

Ladies European Tour

Creekhouse Ladies Open

Kristianstad Golf Club (Åhus Ostra Cse), Sweden

Winner Maja Stark        72-65-71-71—279

T14      Stephanie Kyriacou       68-73-77-74—292         €7,150

T55      Whitney Hillier  74-76-72-81—303         €1,386

MC       Amy Walsh       74-77—151

LET Access Series

Flumserberg Ladies Open

Gams-Werdenberg Golf Club, Switzerland

Winner Nina Pegova     71-69-65—205  €6,400

T24      Kristalle Blum   77-69-70—216  €576

T61      Victoria Fricot   73-75-79—227  €270