Cameron Smith’s career is at a crossroads and the Australian has made the cruellest cut of his career in a bid to punch his way out of it.
Arriving at this week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania, Smith has missed six cuts in a row in major championships and realised a drastic change was needed. To save his career, he has axed the mate who helped build it.
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The Queenslander, who was the second ranked golfer just four years ago, decided after a disastrous Masters to move on from his coach Grant Field, the man who started shaping the major winner’s game when he was a nine-year-old.
As reported by todaysgolfer.com, the 32-year-old is now working with revered coach Claude Harmon III, a son of swing guru Butch Harmon, as he seeks to find a way to reel in his wayward driving and reclaim his status as a contender.
“It was a terrible, terrible conversation to have,” Smith said.
“I’ve been seeing Grant since I was like nine years old, and he’s a really good friend as well, so it was tough, but I feel like I have done the right thing for my golf. I think what I’ve done is right.”
Alarm bells have been ringing about Smith’s slump for some time now.
The 2022 Open champion was the only player to fail to reach the weekend at all four majors last year, but the uncertainty surrounding LIV Golf’s future has thrust Smith’s plight back into the spotlight.
The recent news that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will remove its funding for LIV at the end of the season has thrown the breakaway league into an existential crisis.
Right now there are more questions than answers, but one of the biggest lingering questions is what will LIV’s stars do if their tour is no more?
The resulting speculation led to rumours Smith may retire. It made a bit of sense.
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Cameron Smith of Ripper GC reacts from the 9th green during day two of LIV Golf Mexico City.Source: Getty Images
The Queenslander has long made it clear that he loves LIV’s reduced schedule because it affords him more time at home in Brisbane.
After jumping ship for a reported fee of $150 million shortly and also have earned roughly $50 million more in prize money on LIV, the keen fisherman could be forgiven for taking the cash and sailing off into the sunset with his young family.
Smith had already knocked back the PGA Tour earlier this year.
When the window was opened to he, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm after Brooks Koepka returned, Smith emphatically responded by saying “I’ve made my bed and I’m going to sleep in it”.
The dots were joining, but Smith insists that whatever happens he will not be calling it quits anytime soon.
“I’m 32 so I’ve got a while yet,” he replied when a reporter asked about any retirement plans during a press conference with Australian media last week.
“I haven’t been asked that question before, that’s good.”
Smith is more interested in a career renaissance and insists that the “fire is in the belly”.
He wants to silence critics like former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, who said “it’s a shame” that Smith is “not now a factor at these majors”.
But more importantly, the Australian is eager to restore his own personal pride.
He gained a little bit of confidence at December’s Australian Open even if it did end in heartbreak.
Smith missed out on his first home open crown by a shot as he three-putted on the final hole, while Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen made a freakish up-and-down to save par and claim victory.
“That is what I needed, a bit of a morale boost,” Smith said of the runner-up finish earlier this year.
But his form at Royal Melbourne did not necessarily flow into the new year.
Top ten finishes at LIV’s Adelaide and Singapore events were promising, but a second round meltdown at Augusta National seemed to undo the good work.
“Probably just really disappointed mate, to be honest,” Smith reflected on his second straight Masters missed cut.
“It sucks to play golf like that and feel like that. It’s been a rough time in the majors for sure.
“I’d like think probably early in my career that I hung my hat on how I performed in the majors and it’s just not good enough.
“Making a few changes to try and get back to where I was, and better. I can promise you the fire is in the belly. It’s just a matter of time mate.”
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Cameron Smith of Australia waves to the fans on the 17th green during the final round of the Australian Open at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.Source: AFP
History counts against Smith’s time being this week, and not just because he is in the infancy of his partnership with Harmon III.
In addition to his poor recent form, the PGA Championship has not necessarily been a happy hunting ground.
Smith has a better finish at every other major than his tie for ninth at the 2023 PGA Championship. But that does not mean it cannot be a turning point.
Although he has never truly been a contender, the Aussie has only missed the cut twice in ten appearances at the second major of the year.
That is not surprising as many Australian golf insiders, who have known Smith since he was child, have long said his game was built to win the claret jug and green jacket.
Smith’s weakness has always been off the tee.
His lack of distance compared to other professionals and his waywardness with the driver is not a great combination at the PGA Championship and the US Open where often knee-high rough swallows up golf balls.
That problem is why he informed Australian reporters last week that he had “made a few changes in my team the last couple of weeks”.
Cameron Smith of Ripper GC plays his shot from the first tee during day one of LIV Golf Mexico City.Source: Getty Images
“Working on something different with my swing. It feels nice. It feels like I’m getting a lot of confidence out on the golf course again, which I’ve struggled with the last year and a bit,” he continued.
“I feel a lot freer on the golf course. I haven’t really played a tournament since the change, so I’m excited for what the future brings. It’s been a while so I’m pumped with where I’m at.”
Over the weekend, those changes became more clear as Smith finished tied 26th at LIV’s Virginia event, won by Ripper GC teammate and compatriot Lucas Herbert.
Harmon III has worked with the likes of Adam Scott, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson over the years and Smith said what they are working on is “not rocket science”.
“It’s just a bit of a different outlook,” he told golfer.com.
“I got to the point where I was thinking so many things in my golf swing that I couldn’t hit the golf shot, which is never a fun place to be. He really just simplified it and made me think one thing rather than a thousand.”
There is no doubt what will be at the top of their priority list as they try to get things back in order.
“He came off a good Australian Open and got a lot of his game back. He played okay this year on the LIV events and got to the Masters and played just okay, really struggling with keeping the ball on the fairway,” Fox Golf expert analyst Paul Gow told foxsports.com.au.
“And hopefully (he has) worked on really straightening the ball up, because that was the thing. He was just a little bit across and shut off with his golf swing, shut off across the line of his swing. And I think they’re working on that and it is getting a bit better. And when he gets that better, we know that he’s really good with his irons.
“It depends on the putting week for Cam, doesn’t it? Because it’s not a short game that is an issue. If it’s hard and fast, the golf course and trickier the greens are, that brings Cam right into play.”
When he was at his best in 2022, winning the Sentry Tournament of Champions, The Players and The Open on his way to the world No.2 ranking, Smith’s driver was not a problem.
He was more accurate, but his stellar short game and approach play would bail him out when things went awry. Not unlike Rory McIlroy, part of Smith’s appeal was that he took fans on a rollercoaster ride.
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Australia’s Cameron Smith poses with the Claret Jug, the trophy for the Champion golfer of the year after winning the 150th British Open at St Andrews.Source: AFP
But it is blatantly obvious that that showman style of golfer who has ups-and-downs within a round, let alone a tournament, will have them in their career.
Many have tried to lay blame on where it has all gone wrong for Smith.
LIV has been the biggest culprit in the eyes of those opposed to the breakaway league.
Its limited schedule, three-round events until moving to 72-holes this year and golf courses deemed not sufficiently challenging enough to prepare players for majors have all been alleged factors.
While since the beginning of last year, Smith has even fielded questions about the impact of fatherhood and whether a change in home life has impacted his golf game.
“You can point fingers at as much as you want as a professional, but at the end of the day your job is to play good golf and that’s probably through no fault of my own,” he said.
“My life has changed a lot, for sure, and a lot of stuff has happened, and that doesn’t want to make me be a better professional golfer less.
“I’ve never been one for excuses and the goal is to get back to how I was playing a few years ago, and even better.
“That’s why I’m working every day to get out and try and get better. Mate, it’s coming. I know it is. It’s just a bit of a rough time at the moment.”
Cameron Smith talks with his wife Shanel Naoum as she holds her son Remy on the fifth green during the Par Three Contest prior to the 2026 Masters.Source: AFP
Also driving Smith’s ambitions to return to the top is the knowledge that time is running out on his major guarantees.
At the end of next year, his five-year exemptions into The Masters, the PGA Championship and the US Open will lapse.
Smith will be able to play The Open every year he likes until he turns 60 as a Claret Jug winner, but potentially losing those American opportunities does weigh on the world No. 235’s mind.
“I’ve definitely thought about it,” he said.
“I don’t think time’s running out my major career by any means. But it is nice to be exempt. It’s nice to have that to fall back on. I’d say I’ve thought about it but I haven’t really let it effect what I’m doing.”
If Smith cannot win one of the next seven majors, he may need to look at a different route to ensure his major career is extended.
WHAT NEXT AS LIV DANGLES BY THREAD
LIV’s potential collapse also must surely have Smith thinking about his next move.
The Ripper GC captain seems unlikely to go back to the PGA Tour if the door was opened once again. There is clearly bad blood there.
Before Smith departed, there was the Scottie Scheffler walking across his line incident during the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Once he did leave, the PGA Tour infamously took away Smith’s reigning champion car spot at TPC Sawgrass and stopped him from practising at their venues near his home in Florida.
Meanwhile, Smith dived into LIV’s global crusade arguably more than anyone else.
His all-Australian Ripper GC team partnered with Golf Australia to deliver the national junior golf program, MyGolf, and the buy-in for the LIV Adelaide event instantly made it LIV’s best event.
The DP World Tour lingers as the most obvious option for LIV players.
Smith’s newest Ripper recruit Elvis Smylie is one of several who struck a deal with the formerly named European Tour, who last came to an agreement with Jon Rahm.
Smith is not a Bryson DeChambeau-type who may jump into YouTube golf, but the tours outside of the United States present a problem in the form of travel.
“There are a couple of things that are on the table. The number one thing that I’ve seen over the last four or five weeks that I’ve been over there is that the players on the LIV Tour are unsure what’s going to happen,” Gow told foxsports.com.au.“The only thing they’re sure about now is that money is not going to come from the Saudis. They’re going to have to stand on their own two feet.
Cameron Smith of Ripper GC on the 12th during day one of LIV Adelaide at The Grange Golf Club on February 12, 2026.Source: Getty Images
“What’s it look like for Cam Smith? Now he’s … 32 years of age. He’s too young to retire. He’s not going to retire. He loves the game of golf. He loves the challenge of golf. He loves the practice of golf. He’s a hard worker. He’s grown up in a tough part of the Brisbane region, so he knows what the dollar value is to things in the world, but the one thing he’s really good at is playing golf. So I would imagine, depending on what the circumstances are for major champions that are current and what the PGA do, well no-one knows what the outcome is going to be.
“They opened up the doors to a small amount … including Smithy. They didn’t take it … Now I think they will probably go through the European Tour and as long as that alliance stays together, they will be fine.
“The other thing that could happen with someone like Cam Smith and Marc Leishman, and possibly Lucas Herbert who is past winner on the European tour … they might come back and Marc Leishman did it last year, on the Australian tour, and they could play more events. They could play the Victorian Open. They could play the New South Wales Open. They can play a number of events to keep themselves sharp, because they always come back anyway.
“And they could go and play the Asian Tour, which is something that hasn’t been spoken about.
“Some might go to the Japanese tour. It might open up an avenue for these players to play, but I think at this particular time, the avenue for any of those players on the LIV Tour, if it doesn’t survive, that they will go and play the European tour.”
Jon Rahm of Legion XIII and Cameron Smith of Ripper GC walks through the second hole during day one of LIV Golf Mexico City.Source: Getty Images
Whatever he does, the Queenslander will want to ensure he can maintain a solid schedule of home events.
In a press conference last week, Smith said “I’d love to have 40 events down there, I’d play them”.
Based on that quote as well as what Gow said, playing the PGA Tour of Australasia might not be out of the question.
Two summers ago Smith played the Queensland PGA and the NSW Open in addition to the Australian Open and the Australian PGA. But trips to Port Moresby, Kalgoorlie and Cobram may not be that appealing in reality.
Regardless of what happens, Smith wants his name up in lights again. The decision of where to play in life after LIV may be taken out of his hands to achieve that goal.
“My future, I want to win tournaments. I want to win majors. I’ve done it before and it’s been a while since I’ve been truly competitive at the top of the leaderboard, so the fire is really burning at the moment,” Smith said.
“I just want to play good golf. I want to be competitive. I know I can do it. It’s a frustrating time but I’m working my ass off at the same time to get back to that spot where I know I can be.
“If I could win another major, I’d be the happiest bloke alive.”