Englishman Jordan Smith won Portugal Masters 2022 on DP World Tour. The 29-year-old shows his dominance in field with wire-to-wire victory for second crown on Sunday.
Smith hit a total of 254 strokes, leading all the way and leaving runner-up Gavin Green three strokes behind. He over four laps scored 27 birdies, three eagles and just three bogeys.
Smith’s final score was at 30 under par. However, the Portugal Masters recently applied “preferred lies” throughout the tournament, so he could not break the record for total strokes and overall points compared to par.
When a player’s ball lies in a part of the general area cut to fairway height or less, the player may take free relief once by placing the original ball or another ball in and playing it from this relief area.
Smith was crowned on the European first-class golf scene at the Porsch European Tour 2017, after only 25 attempts.
“Preferred lies” is usually applied when the tournament or round takes place in inclement weather, causing the ground to be out of standard, possibly due to storms, snow or drought.
At that time, the golfer is allowed to lift the ball to wipe the mud or soil that is detrimental when handling the situation in the existing position and then continue to play. This, experts call “lift-clean-place” (original term: lift-clean-place).
It only takes effect when the ball enters any area of the court whose surface is at or below the level of the fairway, including the worn part of the rough and the green area.
In principle, golfers, when lifting the ball, must mark the original position. When resetting, the new location must be in the specified area, no closer to the pit than the old one.
The difference between front and back positions can be as much as 15cm, equal to the length of the scoreboard, the length of the shaft or even further if the area is not too good.
