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Cameron Smith had a forgettable Australian PGA Championship outing last week. The 2022 champion crashed out trying to defend his title after failing to make the 36-hole cut. Despite the bad result, the Aussie golfer is back this week in Sydney eyeing a strong outing in the Australian Open.
Smith is still recovering from the loss. However, the 30-year-old looks ready to take on competition again at the Australian Open. Commenting on his flame-out from the PGA Championship, the LIV Golf star dubbed golf a “silly game.” He further noted that his form keeps fluctuating between events and it is “weird” how quickly the game changes.
Cameron Smith said on Wednesday at the Australian Open presser, as quoted by The Age:
“It is a silly game sometimes. A couple of weeks ago I was competing to win the Hong Kong Open and I thought I was playing pretty decent golf. And a couple of weeks later it was at the other end of the spectrum. It is weird how it can change so quickly… Just when you think you’ve got it, you don’t. And then sometimes when you think you don’t have it, you are finishing in the top five or top 10.”
Furthermore, he revealed that the week following the loss was “frustrating.” The 2022 Open Championship winner claimed that the loss was “pretty upsetting” as it came in his home ground.
Smith added:
“It was a very frustrating week. Obviously, the game didn’t feel good, it was pretty upsetting to play like that at home, not only in Australia but in my home town. It is a different type of pressure playing at home. I think you expect to play well because it is home. I have always put that pressure on myself and so far, I have had a pretty good Australian career. But I think what hurt me the most is that tournament means so much to me, and to play like that was just really disappointing.”
Smith will begin his Australian Open campaign on Thursday morning. He will take the first tee alongside Australian PGA Championship winner Min Woo Lee. The two golfers, favorites to win the men’s event this weekend, will go up together.
Cameron Smith on improving his game ahead of the Australian Open
After crashing out of the PGA Championship on Friday, Smith was quick to make a move. The LIV Golf star returned to Royal Queensland over the weekend and practised with coach Grant Field. He went on to fine-tune his game for four days before heading to Sydney.
It is pertinent to note that the Aussie even put forth a solid pro-am round at The Australian on Wednesday. He was crisp around the Jack Nicklaus-designed course, suggesting that he might’ve found his form back. The 30-year-old admitted that he is “definitely feeling better” than last week and he is fully committed to having a good outing.
Notably, Smith exited the Australian Open last year after failing to make the third-round cut. The extra cut was introduced to control the mixed-gender event’s field size. However, it has since been scrapped and brought back to a single Friday-cut format.
