The 60 shot by Cameron Smith during round three at the Northern Trust Open at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey was a course record. Smith is tied at -16 with U.S. Open Champ, Jon Rahm heading into the final round which will be played on Monday.
Cameron Smith barely missed scoring a 50 at the Northern Trust Open at Liberty National golf course in Jersey City, New Jersey. Instead, the 28-year-old Australian who is ranked 16th on the PGA Tour would finish with a 60 during the third round, Saturday.
After his course record third round score, Smith is tied for first-place at -16 with U.S. Open champion, Jon Rahm heading into the final round.
Smith had a great round, birdying six of his front nine holes and then five of his back nine for an overall score of 60 on a par 71.
All smiles after that round 😃 pic.twitter.com/90mrZPAgdA
— THE NORTHERN TRUST (@TheNTGolf) August 21, 2021
“I was nine under then and yeah, just wanted to press on and wanted to see what I could do,” Smith said. “Obviously in a great spot, and that last four or five holes here are pretty tough, so I knew it was going to be a big ask. But yeah, I played some really good golf coming in.” - Cameron Smith
The drama was palpable as the recently-turned 28-year-old Australian golfer prepared to take what he hoped would be his final shot on Saturday-- a 12-foot put on the green at 18. Smith putted it well and when he came up just short of the hole, you could see how much Smith wanted to sink that shot.
Final Round Slated for Monday
The PGA released a statement about the impending inclement weather. That weather includes Hurricane Henri hitting primarily Long Island, New York City and the North Jersey coast on Sunday.
Based on the projected path of Tropical Storm Henri and the Tropical Storm Warning that has been issued by the National Hurricane Center for the area where the Northern Trust is located, there will be no play on Sunday, August 22nd. Round 4 will be played on Monday, August 23rd
For a youngster like Cam Smith who was rolling through Liberty National like a hot knife through butter, we will see if a delay slows his momentum at all. For the world number-one sharing the lead with Smith, Rahm should be able to weather this storm better than Smith.
However, the Aussie’s stellar performance through three rounds in New Jersey is no fluke. The 28-year-old finished second tied for second with Sungjae Kim at the 2020 Masters. 17th-ranked Dustin Johnson blew away the field at last year’s Masters, shooting a -20.
The 2021 Masters were played in early April. Smith did not get as close as he did in 2020 to donning the green jacket, but he finished pretty well. Tied for tenth-place with Tony Finau who is very much within striking distance of winning the Northern Trust, sitting two strokes off Smith’s -16 leading mark.
A Landmark Season for Rahm
Jon Rahm won his first Major when he shot a 67 on the final day of the U.S. Open and overtook Louis Oosthuizen by one stroke. It was the 26-year-old’s first PGA major victory and he also became the first player from Spain to win the U.S. Open. Three other Spanish golfers had won the Masters before Sergio Garcia won in 2017. Severiano Ballesteros won the Masters twice in 1980 and 1983 and Jose Maria Olazabal won in 1994.
Now, Jon Rahm is close to putting in an extraordinary 2021, if he can outduel Cameron Smith on the final round, slated to be played on Monday at Liberty National Golf Course. One thing the announcers have harped on, during the broadcasts of this tournament is that the lowlight of his season may have been getting COVID in late July, which disqualified him from participating in his first Olympics. According to ESPNs report, Rahm passed five daily tests and tested positive on the last one which meant he missed the Olympics, but added these words of wisdom.
In the grand scheme of things, I didn't get to play two big events. Golf is secondary. My wife, my son, my family is what's important. I can't say it's a bad year. I got the U.S. Open trophy. I'm No. 1 in the world. I'm never going to say I'm an unlucky person.
- Jon Rahm
It is no joke that the 2021 season has been phenomenal for the 26-year-old Rahm. In April, he finished fifth at the Masters and then from June to July played his best golf. Rahm won the U.S. Open in June and finished top-ten at the British Open, rounding off his great Majors form. However, he encounter some obstacles in the third round of the Northern Trust, although he did not fall out of contention.
Rahm double-bogeyed the 13th hole, which moved him down from first to third place with a -15 score. Then he came back with a birdy at the 15th hole thanks to this beautiful tee shot.
On his front nine, Jon Rahm birdied four times during a six-hole stretch to take the lead. However, the Spaniard slipped up at the 13th and 16th holes to give the lead back to Smith. On the final two holes Rahm finished strong to finish the day with a 67, and locked in a dead-tie with Cameron Smith for the lead at the Northern Trust.
After a double on the 13th, @JonRahmpga bounces right back at the 15th. pic.twitter.com/HI3TBaJwVY
— THE NORTHERN TRUST (@TheNTGolf) August 21, 2021
Rahm had a long put to make to take the lead on the 18th hole on Saturday. He missed and would settle for par and staying at -16 heading into Monday’s final judgement day.
Playing Conditions at Liberty National
According to Golf Digest.com , incredible scores like #16 ranked Cam Smith's in the third round shows that Liberty National has been relatively easy for the world's best golfers to navigate, so far. Golf Digest's Daniel Rapaport said that Liberty National was "pillow-soft" and after seeing Jon Rahm's back-nine, I agree.
At the 17th hole, Rahm hit his worst tee shot, which tailed far right. Luckily, though Rahm's ball hit an curved hill and landed back on the fairway. If this had been a more difficult course with ravines and ruff, Rahm could have double-bogeyed the 17th hole and been two strokes behind the leader, but he caught a break there thanks to Liberty National's comfortable curves.
PGA Tour Senior Tournament Director, Jon Mutch answered questions from the media about how the golf course may hold up on Monday, if rain persists.
"We fully expect to be able to play Monday. We really need seven hours, we'll obviously go off two tees, in threes, and my meteorologist here on site thinks we have that. It may be wet, but we're fortunate we have a golf course that's built on sand [so] it's used to [moisture] and we have an all-star grounds crew here." - Jon Mutch
Overall, the fact that the course will be worked on by Liberty National's professional grounds crew will not change how the final round is played. The difference here is the lay-over for the players, who are used to staying focused through the weekend and now will have a day off and need to find a way to recalibrate heading into an unconventional closing round.
Can Anyone Catch the Leaders?
One of the huge underdogs still in the hunt for the Northern Trust, is the PGA's 79th-ranked Erik Van Rooyen who shot a 62 on Saturday. Van Rooyen's third round score was second-best on the day behind Cameron Smith's 60 and he sits one stroke behind the leaders. Meanwhile the #7 Justin Thomas and #23 Tony Finau are tied for fourth with -14 scores, heading into Monday.
Brooks Koepka is the only golfer within striking distance, who has won a Major before. The Floridian's best recent finish was sixth-place at the British Open, where he finished with a -8 just three shots behind Jon Rahm who finished tied for third.
Koepka has four majors to his name, making him one of the only golfers within striking distance who has ice in his veins when it comes to winning final rounds. Koepka won the US Open in 2017 and 2018 and the PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019.
The four-time major champion's last victory in a PGA tournament was the Waste Management Open in Arizona. Koepka put in a stellar final round, beating out K.H. Lee by one stroke to win the Waste Management. Justin Thomas who is tied for fourth place at Northern Trust, also won the Player’s Championship in early March.
Brooks Koepka is tied for 11th place at the Northern Trust, but looks can be deceiving because Koepka is just six shots behind the two leaders. With a great final round, which Koepka is more than capable of doing, he could find himself in a battle for the title. Boy, would it be exciting to see Rahm, Smith and Koepka hurtling toward the finish line on Monday, but for now we will be satisfied with having seen a course record scorecard from Cameron Smith and now it is all up to the Aussie whether or not he can hold off Rahm from putting his third win of the 2021 PGA season in the books.
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