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Leishman-Smith knock off South Africans in playoff to win Zurich Classic

Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith defeated South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel on the first playoff hole to win the Zurich Classic.

The two teams played alongside each other in Sunday's final pairing and battled for position atop the leaderboard all day. Oosthuizen and Schwartzel started the round with the outright lead but found themselves facing a two-shot deficit with seven holes to play.

However, after a couple of tough breaks - including one where Leishman's drive wound up directly behind a tree in the middle of the fairway on No. 13 - the Australian duo trailed by one going into No. 16. There, Smith's drive found the water, but Leishman chipped in for birdie to tie things up. It remained deadlocked through 18 holes to force a playoff.

But the excitement was short-lived. Oosthuizen's opening tee shot in the playoff found the water and immediately put the South African's behind the 8-ball. The Aussies only needed a par to secure the team victory.

For Smith, the win marks his third on the PGA TOUR and second Zurich Classic title. Leishman now has six PGA TOUR victories on his resume.

Here's how the leaderboard finished from TPC Louisiana:

Place Team To Par R4 Score
1 Marc Leishman-Cam Smith -20* 70
2 Louis Oosthuizen-Charl Schwartzel -20 71
3 Richy Werenski-Peter Uihlein -19 67
T4 Billy Horschel-Sam Burns -18 69
T4 Keith Mitchell-Brandt Snedeker -18 69
T4 Keegan Bradley-Brendan Steele -18 70

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