Cam Smith’s charge towards Augusta National ramped up again this week as the World No.51 cracked the top five in California.

Coming off the back of an outright 11th result last week, Smith improved on his best finish since winning the Sony Open in January with four rounds in the 70s.

“Over the weekend, I just played probably a little bit smarter and hitting the right shots rather than trying to go at everything,” said Smith on Sunday.

“Which is hard to do when the course is playing pretty easy. It was really solid and the putts went in over the weekend, which is nice.”

A special shout out must go to Japan Tour regular Brad Kennedy, who was the next best Australian in his first PGA Tour star since 2012 and his first tournament since March this year.

Across the country, another Queenslander in Katherine Kirk was sensational on the world’s top women’s circuit.

World No.81 Kirk notched her fourth top 10 in her last five starts on the LPGA Tour to continue a sustained run of brilliance.

Kirk is now certain to reach her highest world ranking in more than a year and a half, a well-deserved reward for her return to form.

At home, Aaron Pike held off Michael Sim in a playoff to claim the Tailor-Made Building Services NT PGA Championship, with amateurs Nathan Barbieri, Jed Morgan and Lawry Flynn grinding out impressive top 10 results against the pros.

But Australia’s unbelievable year of champions continued in Asia thanks to Won Joon Lee, the New South Welshman winning his second Korean PGA Tour title in just over a year.

It took Lee 33 years to win his first pro crown but after last year’s breakthrough at the Korean PGA Championship he’s gone on with it, birdieing the last hole over the weekend to ensure a comfortable three-stroke win.

So for adding another trophy to our country’s burgeoning cabinet, we congratulate our latest #AussieOfTheWeek Won Joon Lee!

KOREAN TOUR
Bizplay Electronic Times Open
Tameus CC, Korea
Won by Won Joon Lee (AUS) at -14 by three shots
1 – Won Joon Lee, -14, 69-67-66
MC – Junseok Lee, 71-77

PGA TOUR
ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP
Sherwood CC, California
Won by Patrick Cantlay (USA) at -23 by one shot
T4 – Cam Smith, -19, 67-69-66-67
T41 – Brad Kennedy, -11, 72-67-66-72
T60 – Jason Day, -6, 68-71-69-74
T70 – Marc Leishman, -2, 71-73-72-70

LPGA TOUR
Drive On Championship
Great Waters Course, Georgia
Won by Ally McDonald (USA) at -16 by one shot
T6 – Katherine Kirk, -11, 72-65-70-70
T13 – Su Oh, -8, 71-72-69-68
T17 – Hannah Green, -7, 74-68-68-71
T60 – Minjee Lee, +2, 70-73-75-72
MC – Sarah Jane Smith, +5, 75-74
MC – Sarah Kemp, +7, 76-75

EUROPEAN TOUR
Italian Open
Chevro GC, Brescia
Won by Ross McGowan (ENG) at -20 by one shot
T55 – Maverick Antcliff, -7, 70-67-71-73
MC – Jason Scrivener, -1, 71-72
MC – Wade Ormsby, +1, 71-74

ISPS HANDA PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA
Tailor-Made Building Services NT PGA Championship
Palmerston Golf Course, Darwin
Won by Aaron Pike (QLD) at -12 in a playoff over Michael Sim
1 – Aaron Pike, -12, 68-66-67
2 – Micheal Sim, -12, 66-70-65
T3 – Nathan Barbieri (am), -9, 65-69-70
T3 – Deyen Lawson, -9, 68-67-69
5 – Justin Warren, -8, 68-69-68
6 – Anthony Quayle, -7, 70-70-66
7 – Jed Morgan (am), -6, 67-69-71

Image: KPGA