Cameron Smith was dragged right into a weird guidelines drama which resulted in a enjoying associate taking virtually quarter-hour for a shot as Australia’s top-ranked golfer narrowly missed one other victory earlier than returning dwelling.
Smith, the British Open champion from 2022, surrendered a late lead as he tried to maintain Australia’s nice file within the Hong Kong Open earlier than a one-shot defeat within the Asian Tour occasion on Sunday.
However it didn’t come with out main controversy when Smith’s enjoying associate, Thailand’s world No.261 Phachara Khongwatmai, was concerned in a debate with Smith and eventual winner, New Zealand’s Ben Campbell, about addressing a ball on the sixteenth gap of the ultimate spherical. Khongwatmai had skewed his tee shot into thick bushes, and took an inordinate period of time to evaluate whether or not he had a swing for his second.
Having known as a guidelines official to assist with the scenario, Campbell after which Smith protested Khongwatmai and his caddie’s traipsing by way of the dense scrub was affecting a department on a tree which was linked to the undergrowth. Clearly pissed off with Khongwatmai’s therapy of the realm and clarification from the principles official, Campbell even quipped: “I believe we have to get one other guidelines official.”
Khongwatmai (-17), who had a one-shot lead on the time, couldn’t scrap his ball out of the bushes on his first try. He was pressured to get down on his knees to muscle his third shot only some metres onto the close by tough.
He ultimately signed for a double-bogey six and surrendered his lead after the controversy, however Khongwatmai and Campbell each made birdie on the seventeenth gap to make sure a three-way tie heading down the final.
After leaking his drive proper, Smith was pressured to pitch again onto the green after which virtually holed his third from simply inside 100 metres.
Smith (-18) ultimately rolled within the par putt, nevertheless it mattered little as 32-year-old Campbell (-19) made birdie to win the occasion, the primary time he had held the lead at any stage all through the event.