Cooper Smith (Submitted Photo)

Smith carded rounds of 68-70-68-67 to get to 7-under, tied with Drew Doyle, Carter Loflin, and Kyle Downey to force the playoff.

"I was trying to stay as patient as possible," Smith said. "My plan for the whole week was to play conservatively aggressively." 

In the final round, Smith birdied Nos. 15 and 17 to move from one down to one up on the leaderboard, but an untimely bogey on No. 18 forced a playoff. They had to play No. 18 again as the first hole of the playoff. 

"It shows growth for myself because I could have freaked out or tried to do something extra," Smith said about putting the late bogey behind him. "If I am nervous, my normal go-to shot is a tee'd down, low cut, and it works really well."

Smith added, "In the playoff, I did that, and it worked. I hit a really solid drive on No. 18, and on No. 10, I hit an even better one. Going back to what I know has consistently put me in the best position has worked."

This is Smith's second win of the calendar year, as he won the New Year's Invitational to start 2024.

"I wasn't going to try to let the moment get too big for me," Smith said. "It was amazing; this is why I practice and play. I want to feel these nerves and why I love golf."