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Cam Davis has produced the best round of the final day to finish in a tie for third behind play-off winner Jordan Spieth at the PGA Tour's RBC Heritage.
Australia's Cam Davis has fallen agonisingly short of his second PGA Tour win, tying for third in the RBC Heritage.
Davis equalled his best career round on the PGA Tour, shooting a bogey-free, eight-under par 63 after putting himself in contention with a front-nine birdie blitz.
The 27-year-old collected another three birdies on the inward run and took the outright lead on the par four 15th before completing his round with three straight pars.
He finished at 12 under for the tournament, a week after making the cut at the US Masters before finishing 46th.
Starting the final round at Hilton Head in a share of 38th place, the world No.94 missed out on a play-off berth by one stroke after Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay were tied at 13 under after 72 holes.
Smith said the Masters could turn out to be a pivotal moment in his PGA Tour season after receiving some overdue face-to-face tuition from his Australian-based coach Khan Pullen at Augusta National.
"My coach was able to make it over from Australia for the first time in a while," Davis said.
"So that work was started at Augusta.
"Unfortunately, it didn't lead to awesome golf there, but it was definitely trending and kind of accumulated to today where it felt like everything was working quite well."
Davis, who won the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2021 for his breakthrough PGA Tour success, said his Masters experience was everything he had expected.
"Being there at the Masters was a childhood dream come true. I've watched it every year since I've been a golf fan, which is pretty early on," he said.
"Especially playing Sunday with Adam (Scott) in the first group off, just playing the course as pure as it could possibly be with all those Sunday pins.
"It was so nice going around and playing the course that I'd seen so often on TV."
Spieth took his 13th career victory as he edged out Cantlay on the first play-off hole.
Following the lead set by Davis, Spieth powered his way up the leaderboard with a final round of 66 that included eagles on the second and fifth holes, both par fives, as he rose from an overnight share of ninth.
Though he dropped shots on the ninth and the 11th, Spieth birdied the 13th and the 18th to move to 13 under.
Cantlay, who started the day in second place, forced a play-off with a birdie on the par three 17th, finding the green with a 178-yard drive off the tee.
When it came to the extra hole, Cantlay found the bunker off the tee as Spieth took the win.
A three-times major winner, Spieth said he rolled into the tournament with his frustration level at an all-time high after producing his worst showing at the Masters.
"I never missed a cut at the Masters before and very rarely had not had a chance to win on the weekend. So I hated it. It was the worst feeling. It was the worst feeling as a golfer that I can remember," he said.
- with PA and Reuters