Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith have partnered and won the PGA Tour team event, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. They held off Presidents Cup team mates – the South African pair of Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel.
Smith and Leishman navigated a cautious par on the first playoff hole, the par 5 18th, after Oosthuizen sent their team ball into the drink off the tee. It was Louis’s first bad swing of the day and it set up the win for the Australian pair.
Earlier, on the 16th, Smith found the water off the tee only to have playing partner step up and hole a chip for birdie. This was a pivotal moment, helping the pair scramble to the tie and the playoff.
Sporting one of the ugliest mullets seen on Tour, Leishman embraced his partner’s hairdo. They were named Team Mullet by the crowd and as the American players dropped out of contention, the crowd embraced the Australians.
In another twist, each team selected a song to play as they arrived on the first tee and the Aussies agreed to play (I come from a land) “Down Under” by Men at Work. Smith was surprised when the music started blaring out a recently released Country and Western tune, “The Mullet Song”. A joke at partner Leishman’s request.
It worked wonders and the pair capped off a rare team’s event on Tour with a great win. The result sees Cam Smith rise to #3 on the FedEx Cup standings and March Leishman has raced into the top 30 (#29). Only Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas now hold out Smith from the #1 position.
Team golf appears to agree with Cam Smith as he added the victory to his 2017 Zurich classic win with Jonas Blixt.