Smylie Faces as Kaufman wins Shriners

The Shriners Open was won by our new favourite name in golf, Smylie Kaufman. The 23 year old with the Happy Gilmore-esque name shot a ridiculous 61 final round to post an early number that nobody else could match. 

Starting 7 shots back, Smylie went berserk on the back 9 with 5 birdies and an eagle, the highlight being an eagle 2 on the drivable 15th. "It was the perfect number, just smoked a 3-wood," Kaufman said. "It landed in the perfect spot, and I had a good read on it and hit a good putt.”

Posting his final round so early, Kaufman was seven shots behind the leaders going into Sunday, and  had to wait for everyone to come in. He spent a lot of his time watching everything unfold with his pal Patton Kizzire, a longtime friend who had shot a 63 to take a six way share of second spot.

"He was keeping me calm, kind of cracking some jokes here and there," Kaufman said about Kizzire. "He actually made it a lot easier on me watching the finale.”

Kaufman had come 6th on the web.com tour last season, and 10th in his PGA Tour debut at his Frys.com debut, and is now leading the FedExCup standings and has got himself a place in the Masters, Players Championship, and PGA Championship. Now that’s a week to Smylie about.

Elsewhere Kevin Na fluffed a chip on the 17th that would have put him into a share of the led, while William McGirt went nine under for his back nine to miss out by two shots. Rickie Fowler finished with a 68 for a tie of 25th at nine under, not bad considering he had nearly a full bag of new Cobra King LTD in his bag for the first time this week. 

GPTV Final round video highlights here