The culmination of the two main tours for men in the US saw riches realised and dreams come true as Smith shot a final round of 1-under 69 to end the FedEx Cup Playoffs in a three-way tie for 14th while Lucas Herbert officially received his card to join the PGA TOUR next season.

Starting the week at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta in fifth position, Smith was holding firm at the halfway mark but fell to a tie for 13th with a third round of 3-over 73.

He dropped one further position on Sunday as Patrick Cantlay held off Jon Rahm to claim the $US15 million prize pool by a single stroke and could console himself with a cheque for $US583,750 and a 2020/2021 season total of $US6,435,617.

“It’s been pretty good. Been really good of late, just a bit of a shame this week,” Smith said when asked to sum up his season that included a win at the Zurich Classic, two runner-up finishes and eight top-10s.

“I just didn’t hit my driver good enough. You need to hit the fairways around here to make a score. East Lake hasn’t really been my friend in the past. It still isn’t.”

“My short game, especially my scoring irons are still unreal. Just the longer stuff that I really need to get better at.”

Given the hectic finish to the season that included representing his country at the Tokyo Olympics last month, Smith now intends to spend a few weeks unwinding with a little help from his father, Des.

“I’ve got five weeks off and my old man has come over from Australia, so lots of fishing and lots of sitting down and a few beers in there as well,” he added.

“I’m going to play three or four in the fall, a couple in Vegas for sure and thinking about Houston and RSM.

“Pretty mellow.”

The next season of the PGA TOUR kicks off next week in California at the Fortinet Championship where Lucas Herbert can join the field as a full member for the first time.

Tied for 45th at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship saw the Victorian end the Finals in 14th position and secure one of the 25 PGA TOUR cards on offer.

Curtis Luck began the week in 24th position but a missed cut saw him fall to 31st and a return to the Korn Ferry Tour next year while Aaron Baddeley (36th) and Rhein Gibson (50th) will have limited status on the main tour.

The leader at the halfway mark, Min Woo Lee fell to a tie for 12th at the European Tour’s DS Automobiles Italian Open in Rome, Dimi Papadatos and Kiwi Josh Geary both finished inside the top 10 at the British Golf Challenge on the Challenge Tour while Stephanie Kyriacou remains second on the Ladies European Tour points list after finishing tied for 14th at the Creekhouse Ladies Open in Sweden.

Results

PGA TOUR

TOUR Championship

East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia

Winner  Patrick Cantlay (USA)      67-66-67-69—269            $US15m

T14        Cameron Smith                 68-68-73-69—278            $583,750

European Tour

DS Automobiles Italian Open

Marco Simone GC, Rome, Italy

Winner  Nicolai Hojgaard (DEN)   66-69-65-71—271            €485,330

T12        Min Woo Lee                    64-68-71-73—276            €47,153

T52        Scott Hend                         65-74-70-75—284            €11,142

MC         Wade Ormsby                   72-71—143

MC         Ryan Fox             7             6-74—150

WD        Maverick Antcliff              69-69—138

Japan Golf Tour

Fujisankei Classic

Fujizakura Country Club, Yamanashi

Winner  Shugo Imahira (JAP)        71-69-68-64—272            ¥22m

T20        Anthony Quayle               73-70-71-71—285            ¥1.216m

T59        Scott Strange                     72-74-73-78—297            ¥255,200

MC         Todd Sinnott                      73-74—147

MC         David Bransdon                74-79—153

MC         Dylan Perry                        80-77—157

Korn Ferry Tour

Korn Ferry Tour Championship

Victoria National Golf Club, Newburgh, Indiana

Winner  Joseph Bramlett (USA)    70-68-65-65—268            $US180,000

T20        Danny Lee                          73-67-70-70—280            $10,619

T41        Rhein Gibson                     74-69-69-71—283            $4,900

T45        Lucas Herbert                    75-68-72-69—284            $4,550

T64        Greg Chalmers                  73-67-78-71—289            $3,970

T64        Aaron Baddeley                72-72-76-69—289            $3,970

MC         Brett Drewitt                     75-72—147

MC         Curtis Luck                         72-76—148

Challenge Tour

British Challenge Presented by Modest! Golf Management

The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, England

Winner  Hugo Leon (CHI)               65-66-69-69—269            €33,547

T7           Josh Geary                         69-70-68-66—273            €5,283

T7           Dimitrios Papadatos        68-69-69-67—273            €5,283

T15        Blake Windred                  68-70-71-66—275            €3,145

T18        Daniel Hillier                      73-68-68-67—276            €2,516

T49        Daniel Gaunt                     72-69-70-72—283            €901

MC         Deyen Lawson                  72-73—145

Ladies European Tour

Creekhouse Ladies Open

Kristianstad Golf Club (Åhus Ostra Cse), Sweden

Winner  Maja Stark (SWE)                            72-65-71-71—279

T14        Stephanie Kyriacou          68-73-77-74—292            €7,150

T55        Whitney Hillier                  74-76-72-81—303            €1,386

MC         Amy Walsh                        74-77—151

LET Access Series

Flumserberg Ladies Open

Gams-Werdenberg Golf Club, Switzerland

Winner  Nina Pegova (RUS)                          71-69-65—205   €6,400

T24        Kristalle Blum                    77-69-70—216   €576

T61        Victoria Fricot                   73-75-79—227   €270