Camiko Smith came up just short in his bid to qualify for the upcoming PGA Tour Canada National Capital Open in Ottawa at the Highland Golf Club yesterday.

The Bermuda golfer bounced back from a rocky start to fire a three-under-par 69 that put him in 12-man play-off for the seven remaining qualifying spots. However, his hopes were dashed when he was eliminated on the second play-off hole after making bogey.

Smith missed the fairway off the tee and he was unable to recover.

Things would have been entirely different had Smith capitalised on a birdie attempt on the final hole of regulation.

“I basically had an 18ft putt for birdie to avoid going into a play-off and I missed it,” Smith said. “I actually left a few other birdie putts out there on the golf course I should have made.”

Smith was two over after five holes after three putting for bogey on the 2nd and then failing to get up and down for par on the 4th.

However, his game and confidence received a tremendous lift when he rolled in an eagle putt at the 508-yard par-5 6th. Smith’s 6-iron approach from 190-yards left him with an 18ft eagle putt which he drained to get back to even par.

“That gave me a lot of momentum,” Smith said.

Smith’s good fortune continued at the par-4, 9th which he birdied to make the turn at one under.

However, he then dropped a shot after missing a short putt at 10, only to then quickly regain his poise after two-putting for birdie from 20ft at the 486-yard par-5, 11th.

Further birdies at 15 and 17 moved him to three under, where he remained after missing another birdie attempt on the last hole, which proved costly in the end.

Despite coming up short in his qualifying objective, Smith said there were plenty of positives to take away from yesterday’s round, which was played in blustery conditions.

“I am feeling good about my game,” he said.

“This was my first time doing this, and I basically proved that I can put scores together and compete out here. I pretty much grinded it out and brought myself back from two over to shooting three under, which is a five-shot difference.

“It was a great experience and taking the positives from this event I am looking forward to going into my next qualifier and hopefully I can grab a spot then.”