Cameron Smith reunites with LIV teammates as major champion Hannah Green outlines home town pressure
The smile was back for Cameron Smith in Sydney as a couple of his fellow major champions spoke about the pressure of coming home as the headline act.
Cameron Smith looked to have banished the bad vibes from his missed-cut at the Australian PGA with a full LIV team reunion at the Australian Open bringing out big smiles as he looks to turn things around fast.
The captain of Ripper GC, Smith was yucking it up on the range with teammates Marc Leishman and Matt Jones, the 2019 champion, in Sydney with Adam Scott joining the LIV trio for a high-spirits practice round on Tuesday.
He’s been paired up with PGA champion Min Woo Lee for the opening round of the tournament on Friday, adding another layer of pressure playing alongside the most in-form man in the country.
Major champions Hannah Green and Lee’s sister Minjee, both vying for the women’s crown this week, declared returning home with huge expectations brought about a “different pressure”, and results like Smith’s weren’t new, or rare.
After missing the cut in his home city of Brisbane last weekend, with an emotional post-round press conference during which Smith declared his performance was “unacceptable” and “very upsetting”, the British Open winner didn’t disappear, using the practice putting green and looking to hit balls on the range, even though it was closed, to work on getting better.
He even signed a long line of autographs, ensuring everyone who wanted the signature of still Australia’s highest-ranked golfer, could get it.
Leishman, who finished third in Brisbane, declared it could even be “good for him” and that he was “not worried one bit about his best mate” before walking the fairways of The Lakes with him on Tuesday with crowds flocking to see the star quartet.
Despite his poor showing last weekend, bookies still had Smith second-favourite to take out his maiden Australian Open, with only Min Woo Lee, who was victorious last weekend, a shorter quote.
Green, who faded on the final day of last year’s Australian Open in Melbourne ti finish third, said the pressure of coming home as a headline act was a mental battle players like Smith had to negotiate.
“I think it’s a different kind of pressure playing at home. I feel like probably we put more pressure on ourselves than there is outside pressure,” she said.
“All the crowds that come out just want to see us play really food golf and out toughest challenge is trying to chase that trophy but not get too ahead of ourselves. I’ll still be nervous on the first tee.
“When I hit my first shot I’ll probably be fine, but if I have a tough putt to win the championship I’ll be as nervous as any other tournament.
“It’s the trophy we both want on our resume.”
Minjee Lee, the world number five and a two-time major champion, said she embraced coming back to play, more so at the dual-gender Australian open because it was like a “huge reunion”, which helped as a pressure reliever.
“I feel like every Australian Open we come back and have a huge reunion with people we haven’t seen for a long time,” she said.
“Once a year we all get together and chat about life.
“I really enjoy it.”
Putting duel looms between Day and Smith
In his prime, Jason Day was the ‘best putter in the world’, so a classic Australian PGA battle on the greens looms between him and Cam Smith.
Day reveals ‘phenomenal’ homecoming moment
It’s been seven years since Jason Day was back in Australia and after arriving in Brisbane for this week’s Australian PGA Championship he made a beeline for one thing.
Aussie’s LIV life like playing with ‘Daicos’
The benefits of joining LIV have been profound for Lucas Herbert who likened playing with his Aussie teammates to being surrounded by the best on offer.