Cameron Smith returned to his home country to defend his Fortinet Australian PGA Championship, but it is fair to say things did not go to plan for the LIV Golf star
After missing the cut after his first 36 holes by nine shots, Cameron Smith’s title defense at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship was disappointing.
Smith was the PGA Championship’s three-time winner when he returned home, but his attempt to add a fourth victory did not work out. In recent years, the former world No. 2 has established himself as Australia’s best golfer, but Smith fell short at Royal Queensland.
The former Open champion hoped to climb the leaderboard the following day after starting his week with a frustrating two-over-par 73 on Thursday.
However, Smith’s situation worsened even further after he shot an unusual seven-over 78, finishing the week with just two birdies in 36 holes. Smith did not hold back in his post-round interview following his terrible week.
“I have no need to perform that way; Australia has been so kind to me. Not acceptable, Smith remarked. Yes, without words. S***. I’ve done performances under duress before, and it’s not appropriate—in fact, it can be quite upsetting. Going out there and committing to something is something else entirely, even though I know what I’m doing.”
This week, the Australian returned home under more pressure because of LIV Golf’s continued wait for Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) recognition. Smith and company will continue to drop down the ranking list as LIV is scheduled to host events without ranking points in 2024.
Points will matter more to the former Champions Golfer of the Year than ever in 2019 as he aims to represent Australia in the Olympic Games in Paris once more. The Australian acknowledged prior to this week’s competition that he was aiming to qualify for the Olympics via the majors next year as well as this week’s co-sanctioned DP World Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia event.
Before the tournament, Smith declared, “I know the criteria.” “I’ve got these two events here [the Australian Open and the Australian PGA, which are co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and thus receive world ranking points], and I don’t know if that can change, but there will definitely be more opportunities in the [2024] majors.
“It’s really special, so hopefully I can maintain that ranking and wear the [Australian] coat of arms on my chest again.”
Although Smith’s first attempt in Queensland did not go as planned, he hinted that he will have another chance to redeem himself at the Australian Open the following week. “I hope I can get it together for next week and put on a better show than that,” expressed a frustrated Smith, who plans to improve his performance at The Lakes Golf Club in Adelaide on Thursday.
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