In the end, a tournament did eventually break out. After all the talk of politics, “sports washing”, human rights abuses and who might or might not be playing next time out, the golf took over – as it tends to do amid even the most controversial of controversies.
The win, which counts as an official tour victory, is Leishman’s sixth, his first since the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open. Smith now has three, two at the Zurich and one at the 2020 Sony Open.