The man with the mullet was flying at St Andrews but so too were the whispers that Aussie star Cameron Smith was about to drop a bombshell.
And they continued to increase with the frequency with which the Queenslander drained his putts in the final round of the 150th British Open.
On the eve of the Australian star’s stunning final round of 64 to win the 2022 British Open, an insider with knowledge of the formative LIV Golf Tour was adamant they had their man.
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“It’s on,” they declared, before grabbing another pint in a pub not too far from the Old Course in the picturesque university town.
Smith was incredible in the final round at the Home of Golf, making eight birdies to leave a field including favourite Rory McIlroy stunned as he stormed to a famous triumph.
At the age of 28, the mullet-bearing Queenslander appeared to have the world at his feet.
He had started 2022 by edging Jon Rahm in the Sentry Tournament of Champions and then clinched The Players Championship in stunning fashion in March.
A few weeks later he finished third in the Masters and, given his trajectory, few would have bet against the Aussie clinching a Green Jacket within a couple of years.
Before a wild night of celebrations in St Andrews, Smith presented for his mandatory press obligations, which went well until the whisper that had become a roar was put to him.
“Apologies for having to bring this up in these circumstances, but your name continues to be mentioned, has been mentioned to me this week about LIV golf,” a reporter began.
“What’s your position? Are you interested? Is there any truth to suggestions that you might be signing?”
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Australia’s Cameron Smith kisses the Claret Jug, the trophy for the Champion golfer of the year after winning the 150th British Open Golf Championship on The Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland on July 17, 2022.Source: AFP
The atmosphere felt as icy in a crammed press room as Smith stood cold over his putts that day when securing a triumph for the ages in the 150th British Open.
An Aussie winning The British Open was massive news from a local perspective. But the rebel tour was still in its infancy and the civil war on the links was a far larger story.
Smith was stony-faced and issued a blunt response.
“I just won the British Open and you’re asking about that? I think that’s pretty not that good,” he said.
The reporter persisted with the line of questioning and Smith responded in kind.
“I don’t know, mate. My team around me worries about all that stuff. I’m here to win golf tournaments,” he said.
The non-answer was as good as confirmation. Less than two months later he was gone.
Smith boasts generational wealth as a result of the shift. But while his reasons for jumping ship are both understandable and his alone, there is one thing that has changed.
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Smith is no longer winning golf tournaments. Even more alarmingly, he is no longer making the cut at majors and he arrives at Portrush for the 2025 Open in a crisis of confidence.
There is also something that, at the time, seemed inconceivable.
The Open triumph gave Smith a five year exemption to the majors, but given how well he was performing, it seemed the odds were in his favour to add another triumph. But the clock is ticking.
When he tees off on Thursday, the window left in his exemption will be two years. Tick. Tock.
Smith has cemented himself an Australian champion with his triumph in a landmark Open. That probably is enough.
But one can be sure Aussie fans would prefer watching him in majors for years to come, just as they have been barracking for Adam Scott and Jason Day since their biggest triumphs.
Smith jumped at the money offered by LIV Golf, once fronted by fellow Australian Greg Norman.Source: Getty Images
****
When Smith arrived in Hoylake for the 2023 British Open at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, he had reason for confidence as he contemplated a celebratory sip from the Claret Jug.
“Yes. That’s what I’ve been saying to all my mates. It’ll only be a week and we’ll all be drinking out of it again,” he told Golf Magazine.
Now 29, he was still in winning form, having clinched the Australian PGA title in late November by three shots, which followed an initial win on the LIV Tour in Chicago.
Leading into his title defence, he has clinched another LIV Golf success at the Centurion Club in Hemel Hempstead over compatriot Marc Leishman and Patrick Reed.
And, despite a slow start at Augusta when finishing in a tie for 34th, his form in the majors remained strong with top 10 finishes in both the US Open and US PGA.
But he failed to reproduce his best in that Open, making five bogies in an erratic opening round to finish the day at 1-over, six shots off the pace.
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From there he was never really in contention in a rain-sodden tournament clinched by American Brian Harman, who spreadeagled the field to win by six shots.
Jason Day was the best placed Aussie when finishing in a tie for second, while Smith was among the also rans in equal 33rd. There would be no schoeys or sipping from the jug.
And the results have only gotten worse since at major level, aside from a tie for sixth at Augusta last year.
Once a lock for a tee time on the weekend, the Banana Bender has missed the past four cuts with his tee shots too often bending into trouble. Smith’s short game is still sublime.
But it is tough contending for a major when you can’t hit a fairway.
Is it all doom and gloom? Maybe not.
In a recent interview with Australian Golf Digest following the LIV Golf event in Spain, the captain of the Rippers GC said his swing felt in reasonable shape on the golf range.
He also believes his ability to improvise, which he did so phenomenally well in the 150th British Open, will assist him in his approach to Portrush.
“It’s been a very frustrating year, not only in the majors, but also out here on LIV,” Smith told the magazine.
Smith has been on an undeniable slide.Source: AFP
“I feel maybe I turned into more of a range rat than I have in the past. My swing has felt really good on the range, but I haven’t been able to get a score out of it on the golf course. It’s unlike how I’ve played golf in my career. I need to be creative and I think Augusta and the Open every year, hitting different shots around the green and full swings that you don’t hit the rest of the year, bring out my best. I feel my game’s in a really good spot to get creative.”
The dedication on the range he has shown in a bid to right the woes that have afflicted him tallies with a conversation Fox Golf expert Paul Gow had recently.
He said that Team Smith was well aware of the issues with his game and were working to straighten him out, literally, from the tee.
“I spoke to his coach Grant Field last week and they’re working on some parts of his golf swing and game,” Gow told foxsports.com.au.
“He’s 54 in driving accuracy and 62 in greens hit in regulation (on the LIV Tour). That part of his game is really struggling. We know his short game is really good, his pitching is really good. And they’re working on that.”
The query regarding the impact of LIV Golf on the ability of its stars to compete deep in majors remains, despite the successes of Brooks Koepka and Bryson Dechambeau.
Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley is adamant it had to be a factor when the pressure is on, saying he does not believe the innovative tour provides the best preparation for those hoping to contend in a major.
“I think it’s hard to make an argument that LIV prepares you to win major championships because they are playing team events,” he said on Live At The PGA Championship.
“They’re not playing in the most difficult golf courses, and they’re traveling around the world and then having to come back to America to play three (of the) four majors. Those things alone (add to the difficulty).
“There’s a great quote from a Navy SEAL that’s widely used in leadership. (When asked) ‘What do you do under pressure?’. And he says, ‘I sink to the level of my training.’
“The training that the guys get on LIV, the way they play on LIV, it’s not the same intensity as the PGA Tour. Nobody can argue that that is not true.”
Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley have questioned whether LIV Golf is to blame for Smith’s slide.Source: AFP
McGinley’s fellow expert and Golf Channel colleague Brandel Chamblee was far more scathing when he spoke to Code Sports about Smith at this year’s Masters.
Chamblee said he was of the opinion that Smith, with his array of golf weapons, could become “one of the true greats in the game of golf”.
Instead, he said that he was “heartbroken” to see Smith head to LIV Golf — a decision he believes has heavily impacted his game.
“I miss him. I follow him around in majors. I’ve met his crew. Nice people, I love them all, but like most of the LIV players, with the exception of a few, they might as well be in the witness protection program,” Chamblee said. “You don’t see them except for four times a year and you hardly see them then because almost all of their games have decayed.
“They’re not playing high-level competition. The courses aren’t set up in championship ways and we can talk about whether or not they are motivated because they have all been contractually paid to play these events.
“Is it the best way to sharpen the knife? I don’t think it is.
“They are all flushed with cash. I’m sure they are all enjoying their boats and their cars and their houses, but they are ‘at bottom’ golfers.”
Gow is not prepared to take that leap yet and noted that Smith had time.
He believes the 31-year-old’s competitiveness could carry him a long way and said it might just be a matter of time until he rediscovers the form that made him a leading contender.
“In the LIV events when there’s less pressure, he’s been okay,” he said.
“I think he’s had a seventh and in Dallas, he’s had a 13th. So at particular times, (his results have) been okay. But in the three majors so far (this year), when you’re in the heat of the battle, it hasn’t quite clicked.
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“This week, he’s an Open champion, (and) if it all clicks for him, bang, he’s back in it. He’s a tough competitor and one of the toughest we’ve seen for a long time.
“I wouldn’t write him off just yet. If he had the same results by the end of next year, I’d say that the LIV has really affected him. I’m not quite sure, and I’m not buying into the idea that LIV has affected him just yet.”
Smith played decently in the recent tournament at Valderamma, sharing the lead after Day 1 in conditions that bordered on unplayable in the midst of what has been an extended heatwave throughout parts of Europe including Spain.
His hopes of breaking the title drought were scorched when he shot over par on the second day, but he rebounded with a 2-under on the final day to finish in a tie for seventh.
“You’re going to hit some bad shots. You’re going to get blown over by the wind. The ball is going to do some crazy stuff,” he said.
“It’s just stuff that you have to take on and really move on with. You have to flight it. You have to shape it.
“I’ve been working hard hitting lots of shots, been working on my flights and all that stuff at home in preparation for this week or really the next three weeks.”
It was not quite the performance of the Smith of old, but it was an indication that there might be light at the end of the tunnel and that the extended time he is spending as a “range rat” is starting to pay off.
Can the greatness return?Source: AFP
It is not the only reason for optimism, either, with the Aussie keen to get back to Portrush.
He credits his most recent visit there when the Open was last played at the Northern Ireland course in 2019 as the event in which he started to understand how effective his creativity could be on links courses.
That lesson was put to good use at St Andrews three years later. And a return visit might just prove the trick to Smith snapping out of an extended funk.
“I loved Portrush,” Smith told Australian Gold Digest.
“That was probably my first year of falling in love with links golf. I had a horrendous record before that. I felt like I’d played well and hadn’t really got anything out of my game. That week, I managed to play well and from there, I’ve really enjoyed links golf.”
