Jittery Smith ties for 42nd position at Daytona Beach
Australian Kristie Smith, who won the 2010 edition of the Daytona Beach Invitational 2012, failed to perform well at the 2012 edition of the Symetra Tour event as she finished tied for the 42nd position after shooting an overall 215.
Smith looked jittery right from the start of the three-day tournament, held at Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, as she made a lacklustre start by posting a 74 in the first round on Friday.
The Aussie golfer let down her fans after she missed several good chances to bounce back, and she let her nearest rivals walk all over her due to miscalculation on the putting greens.
The final round witnessed Smith improve her game a little, but due to a grim score on the opening day, she could not make much of an impact on the leaderboard.
The 2010 champion started the third round on Sunday with her head high, but could not adjust to the conditions early in the morning. She parred the first hole and carded a bogey on the par-4 second.
In an attempt to get back in action, Smith sank a seemingly difficult birdie-putt on the par-3 third hole. Her surprise performance did not end there as she drained two back-to-back birdies on the fifth and sixth hole.
On the back nine, the struggling Aussie could not maintain her momentum and made several lousy strokes. A bogey on the 12th seemed to put her off the track, but Smith was quick enough to offset it by shooting a birdie on the difficult par-3 14th.
Smith has crafted a solid career as she has not only proved her worth on the Symetra Tour, but she has also done well on the Ladies European Tour (LET).
Having won two titles on the Symetra Tour, the professional golfer was regarded as one of the hot favourites for the title at Daytona Beach Invitational.
On the LET, Smith has grabbed one title — something that helps her overshadow most of the contenders on the Symetra Tour. She displayed a solid performance at the Pegasus New Zealand Women’s Open 2011, clinching a victory by three strokes.
Observers said that the Aussie star appeared to be a bit fazed by her latest performance, but she is likely to recover from it soon, as she eyes titles at the coming tournaments.
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