Cameron Smith today – photo Australian Golf Media
Cameron Smith might not have had the dream finish to the year he had planned at the start of this week’s Australian Open but as he left the Victoria Golf Club today having missed the 54-hole cut by what appears will be one or two shots, he can take solace from the fact that part of the success of this week’s event has been his doing.
Even today, when off in one of the first few groups at 7.05, crowds lined the fairways to see if they could witness the 29-year-old staging a rally on day three to get himself back into the tournament but as hard as he tried, things would not fall his way.
He had waited all afternoon yesterday to discover he had just sneaked on the ever-increasing 36 hole cutline of 2 over and thinking he had been unlikely to make it, he headed to the pub for a few beers with mates.
“I wasn’t really expecting it to be honest,” said Smith. “I was pretty quick to the pub and yeah and was probably a few too many beers deep and then I realised we had an early tee time, so I got back on the waters and was a good boy the rest of the night.
“I thought I had it in me today and hit lots of good golf shots, and yeah, just couldn’t really capitalise,” said Smith. I kept kind of hitting good putts to it and just weren’t going in. Yeah, just not my week. But, you know, it is what it is.
“I kind of thought it would take 3 or 4-under, so the strategy I don’t think changed at all, it was just go out there and play some really solid golf. Like I said, I thought I played solid enough, just not enough putts went in.”
Smith is looking forward to a well-deserved break following a year which has netted five victories including his LIV Tour success but events such as The Open Championship, The Players Championship and the Tournament of Champions and the Australian PGA Championship make it a simply phenomenal 12 months.
“I might play with the old boy in a Saturday comp or something like that at Wantima but it definitely won’t be serious. It will just be on the cart, having a good time. Yeah, I’ll probably put the clubs away now for a solid two or three weeks and then get back into it, kind of the new year. Looking forward to next year, I think it will be exciting.”
Smith’s first competitive outing in 2023 is likely to be the Asian Tour’s Saudi International in Saudi Arabia in late January.
