Cameron Smith holds the lead despite bogeying each of his first two holes at 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions

Cameron Smith holds the lead despite bogeying each of his first two holes at 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions

Cameron Smith

The 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions is currently underway in Kapalua, Hawaii which witnessed one of the greatest turnaround stories of recent years. Australia’s Cameron Smith opened with two straight bogeys to not only lose his one-shot lead but fall completely off the first page of the leaderboard.

However, the Kangaroo made a sensational recovery, capped by four straight birdies at the end for a 9-under 64 and a three-shot lead. Currently, he is slightly ahead of the USA’s Daniel Berger and Spanish golf player and world number one Jon Rahm.

“Few poor shots, a silly three-putt on the second,” Smith said. “I had to hit the reset button.”

“I’ve been playing golf basically my whole life. I could figure it out pretty quickly,” he added. “As I said, I figured it out within a few holes and started to feel really comfortable there, especially with the driver. Yeah, then the putter felt good the whole day.”

Smith was at 17-under 129 and matched the 36-hole record at Kapalua first set by South Africa’s former top seed golfer Ernie Els in 2003. This took place when he blew away the winners-only field and won by eight shots.

Patrick Cantlay missed an 8-foot birdie putt on final hole

Patrick Cantlay
Patrick Cantlay

The FedEx Cup champion and PGA player of the year who had not competed since the Ryder Cup in late September, Patrick Cantlay, missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole. As a result, he had to settle for a score of 67. 

“I played great and got absolutely nothing out of it,” Cantlay said. “It just means my game is in a good spot and I’m well-positioned for a good weekend.”

“If anybody expected any rust — which I did a little but — it really isn’t there,” Rahm had said after not missing a fairway or a green the entire round.

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