BBC SPORT | Golf | Smith takes debut win

Stewart Cink (68) and Canada's Ian Leggatt (71) tied for fifth at nine under.

"It's an awesome feeling," said an emotional Smith immediately after winning. "Honestly, I can't describe it."

"I could feel myself welling up inside, and was like, 'Oh my gosh, control yourself'."

His previous best finish on the PGA Tour was a tie for third at the 2001 BellSouth Classic.

Smith began the final round with a one-shot lead over Roberts and Gossett.

He birdied the first and third holes while bogeying the second and fifth to shoot an even-par 36 on the front nine.

On the back nine, he birdied the par four 10th and 15th holes, while bogeying the par four 12th.

Pat Perez finished in second
Pat Perez finished two shots behind the winner
Smith made only four of 14 fairways in the final round but hit 14 greens in regulation and totalled 30 putts.

"At the end, I was trying to hit some things smooth," Smith said. "I was hitting it all over the place and I knew if I could get it to the green I would be OK because I was putting good.

"It was a long time since I had that kind of confidence in my putter where I could just let it go."

Leading final scores at the Buick Classic:
(US unless stated)

272 Chris Smith 66 69 67 70
274 David Gossett 66 67 70 71, Pat Perez 67 70 67 70, Loren Roberts 64 68 71 71
275 Stewart Cink 67 69 71 68, Ian Leggatt (Can) 69 68 67 71
276 Tom Lehman 68 72 68 68, Jerry Kelly 65 70 70 71
278 Jim Furyk 68 69 74 67, Peter Lonard (Aus) 71 68 69 70, Stephen Ames (Can) 70 71 66 71
279 Len Mattiace 69 70 72 68, Mike Weir (Can) 70 71 70 68, Brad Faxon 69 71 70 69, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 70 70 71, Bryce Molder 71 66 71 71, David Toms 70 68 68 73
280 Brent Geiberger 68 75 69 68, Woody Austin 69 69 74 68, Craig Parry (Aus) 67 75 69 69, Phil Tataurangi (NZ) 69 70 70 71, Kevin Sutherland 73 69 67 71, Jose Coceres (Arg) 68 68 71 73, Hal Sutton 71 68 67 74


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